Two Become One
by Rhina
Summary: A story with an unusual pairing
1. Prologue

Candle light and soul forever

I'm finally back in the writing mode after being unable to

sit down and type out anything for the last couple of months!

*grins*And of course the first thing that I wanted to

work on was something for the Strange Days contest.This

pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it

would be an interesting combination.

It's going to end up being a sappy romance thing, but

with something of a twist in the main pairing and the

side pairing that follows it.So no hints yet!

Title: Two Become One 1/?

Author: Rhina

Pairings: ?????

*******

WARNING: None yet!

*******

Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts

otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the

school board.I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the

Spice Girls either – thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to

them?!

lyrics 

~~~ scene change ~~~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Candle light and soul forever

A dream of you and me together 

~~~ Preventer Headquarters ~~~

"Sally," said Wufei in a psuedo calm voice as he entered 

Sally's office.His hands were folded behind his back in a 

gesture meant to control his nervousness.

It was rare that he was nervous around Sally these days, so 

he did not understand why having this frank conversation 

would upset him to this extent.He had been meaning to speak 

to her on this subject ever since her 24th birthday several 

weeks ago.It was there that he realized people were too often 

assuming that he and Sally were a couple.This bothered him 

in particular because he knew that deep inside he could never 

see Sally in a romantic way.

Oh, he respected her and valued her friendship and thought 

she was an ideal working partner – for a woman.But it 

would never develop beyond that.Despite a common 

background, their temperaments were too different to 

withstand an intimate relationship.It would kind of be like a 

dragon trying to swallow a volcano – all you would get is lots 

of fire, not a lasting partnership.

He was not quite sure about Sally's thoughts on the issue 

and that was worried him.He had a sense that she did not 

entertain silly romantic notions, for she was far too practical, 

but with Sally one never knows for sure unless you ask.

Garnering strength from an afternoon of mediation and 

sword practice, he had resolved to come and straighten things 

out with her.

"Yes, Wufei?" asked Sally without even glancing up from 

the paperwork.Her pen scratched across the multi-layered 

form as she diligently worked to finish her assignment.

"Um," hesitated Wufei, unsure about her lack of a response.

"There's something that we need to talk about.Something 

important."

"So talk," commanded Sally.She smirked quietly to herself 

as her pen continued it's frantic pace across the papers.It 

was rare indeed to see Wufei as nervous as he was right now.

She was enjoying watching him squirm – perhaps just a 

little too much.She wondered idly where did the sadist in 

her had come from.

Wufei stared at Sally for a moment, barely registering that 

she wished him to discuss something this important without 

her even paying attention.He figured she must know best 

though and cleared his throat nervously in preparation for 

launching in to his prepared speech.

"Well, Sally, it's about us," said Wufei with a glare at the 

top of her head.She seemed to be enjoying this a little too 

much for his tastes.

Sally continued to work, sighing mentally at his choice of 

topics.There was nothing she wished to discuss less than 

their 'relationship'.She was heartily sick of the whispers 

behind her back whenever she and Wufei went out on a 

mission together.The taunts and teasing of how to spend 

'quality partner bonding' time were too much for her 

sensibilities.

And she never thought of Wufei that way.There wasn't any 

chemical attraction – something she considered rather vital 

to a long lasting relationship!In her mind, she still thought 

of Wufei as a poor confused kid, even though a kid was 

something he had really never been.But he had been 

someone to train and bring back humanity and foster a love 

of life in too.Now he had those human qualities again and 

she was perfectly happy to shoo him on to the arms of 

someone who would really care for him.

"You're not going to make any confessions of undying love 

are you?" Sally asked wearily, looking up at Wufei.

The Chinese man was momentarily poleaxed at her words, 

but quickly his features relaxed in to a smile."Quite the 

opposite actually.I was coming to make sure that you didn't 

harbour romantic longings for me."

"Furthest thing from my mind," drawled Sally as she stood 

from her chair and moved around the desk to lean against the 

front edge."Look Wufei, I consider you a really good 

friend and I have no desire to screw that up with any silly 

romantic entanglements.We make good partners and I 

enjoy working with you and even going out after the day is 

done, but that's as far as it goes – as far as it will ever go 

where I'm concerned."

Wufei nodded in agreement."I feel quite the same way, but 

with all the people examining our love lives like we were 

some kind of huge human experiment, I wanted to make sure 

that we were in agreement."

"Quite.Besides," said Sally poking Wufei in the shoulder.

"If I'm going to fall in love with someone, he should at least

be my height."

Wufei scowled at her jesting about the sensitive issue of his 

height, a mere inch shorter than hers."I can still put you 

flat on your back woman."

"And I like you that way," grinned Sally and a smile then 

spread across his face and dark eyes in return.She leaned 

over and kissed his cheek gently then, asking silently for 

forgiveness for the joke.

He bowed solemnly to her in return."Friends."

"Friends," she agreed, happy to have the matter settled.

"Now get out of here and let me get my work done."

"And this is why I am still superior to you, woman," called 

out Wufei with a smug smile as he exited the office, pulling 

the door shut behind him."I'm already done."

There was a thud against the closed door and Wufei chuckled 

to himself and he walked away.

~~~ L2 ~~~

"You should just go you know," said Hilde."You know you 

want to.It's a prime opportunity!"

"I know Hilde, but…" answered Duo, his gaze focused on the 

official looking piece of paper in his had.

"Don't tell me you're worried about me?" asked Hilde in a 

tone filled with righteous disbelief."You know better than 

that!I can most certainly take care of myself!"

Duo looked up at the pint sized firecracker of a female and 

smiled with pleasure at once again realizing how good a 

friend she was."It's not that.It's just…."

"Just what?" queried Hilde, sitting down next to Duo and 

looking at him earnestly."We've been friends for years now 

Duo and I've never know you to be afraid of anything."

"It's not afraid exactly," admitted Duo with some hesitation 

as he worked to put his concern into words."It's that…."

Hilde rolled her eyes."Don't make me go and get the pliers 

Duo."

He smiled weakly at her and then returned his gaze to the 

shining white piece of paper emblazoned with the best job 

offer a Sweeper like him could ever hope for.Chief Engineer 

of Development for the Preventers would definitely be a 

great experience and the perks alone were worth the effort 

of moving from L2 to Earth.But still he hesitated.

Deep inside he still worried that Hilde was in love with him.

Throughout it all, he still thought of her as his kid sister.

Someone to take care of and protect, but not the person you 

had romantic dreams about.Now don't get him wrong, he 

longed for that romantic love, that passion and a chance for 

his own family more than anything.But Hilde wasn't the 

girl to give it to him.

Pleading violet eyes peered over at her and Hilde immediately 

knew what he was thinking."I can't believe you're still 

harping on that Duo.I'm not in love with you.Yes, I do 

love you, but it's a far cry from that romantic love we're 

both looking for."

Hilde reached across and smoothed back the strands of 

chocolate brown bangs that always seemed to hang in his 

face."I got over you a long time ago, Duo.I want you to go 

and have a good life.I've got wonderful friends here – I 

don't think I'll be lonely for long."

Duo smiled at the mischievous sparkle in her eyes and 

sighed softly.He was far more reassured now and more 

willing to take the move to further his career."All right, I'll 

call them and accept the job."

"Yeah!" cheered Hilde, jumping up and hugging Duo 

impulsively."So that means dinner is on you tonight, right?"

Duo smirked, the teasing glint once more alight in his eyes.

"I do believe it's you who has those frequent spillage 

accidents."

Swinging wildly, Hilde managed to smack him resoundly in 

the arm, which he immediately clutched in protesting howls 

of pain."Come on!It wasn't that bad of a joke!"

Hilde cried foul and immediately set up a pursuit as Duo ran 

away laughing."I know, you want me to take you out to eat 

because it's your turn to do dishes!"

With another howl of outrage, the chase was on and their 

laughter, like those of good friends anywhere, rang across 

the colony.


	2. Part One

This is for the Strange Days contest

This is for the Strange Days contest.This

pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it

would be an interesting combination.Okay - and somewhere 

along writing this chapter there was a complete plot shift and 

now things are heading away from where I originally intended 

- its no longer so light and fluffy.Hmmmm... guess that's 

what happens when you let those pesky characters make choices!

Title: Two Become One 2/?

Author: Rhina

Pairings: You should get a hint this time!Possibly....Maybe....

*******

WARNING: Angst

*******

Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts

otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the

school board.I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the

Spice Girls either - thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to

them?!

lyrics 

~~~ scene change ~~~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Say you believe it, Say you believe it

Free your mind of doubt and danger

Be for real don't be a stranger

We can achieve it, we can achieve it 

With a stretch of cramped legs and arms, Duo exited the 

transport terminal and took a deep breath."Ah, good ole 

Earth," he commented with a smile.

Hoisting his bags further onto his shoulder, he leaned out and 

hailed a passing cab.Directing it to the nearest hotel, he 

watched the scenery pass by as he accustomed himself to the 

sights of the new city he would call home.

After quickly settling in at the hotel, his temporary abode until 

he had a chance to find more permanent accommodations, he 

decided that there was no time like the present to check in at 

HQ.The flight had been long and boring, but it had dropped 

him off in the middle of the Earth day, so at least he should 

attempt to get something accomplished during these daylight 

hours, despite his body's clamoring for some much needed rest.

Catching a cab once more, he headed across town toward the 

massive Preventer Headquarters just outside of the official 

city limits in a quiet secured office district.In fact, it looked 

so blatantly normal, Duo was pretty sure that most people never 

even realized what they were working next to.

With a lithe movement, he swung his six-foot frame from the 

cab and paid the driver.Striding carelessly up the stairs to the 

main entrance, his deep violet eyes lit with pleasure and his 

braid swung merrily behind him.He could feel how good a 

move this had been just by the simple act of climbing these 

stairs.The fresh Earth air surrounded him and the bright sun 

promised a good life here.

Entering the building by the front door, opposed to his normal 

routine of finding the most obscure access point and entering

there, seemed almost out of character for him.He looked 

around at the impressive foyer of the place before spotting the 

pert redhead receptionist behind the long sleek black desk.

Standing next to her, her back facing him, was a very shapely 

blond, with long hair streaming down her back and a nicely 

fitted uniform.He definitely hoped that the face fit the 

gorgeous creature's visible assets for it would certainly be an 

acquaintance worth making in that case.

Disappointed that the blonde moved away before he could 

even see her face, he went about making eye contact with a 

pair of blatant green eyes.Duo smirked with pleasure and 

strode over to her side."Things are definitely looking up," 

he purred under his breath."Beautiful women always did like 

a man about to don a uniform after all."

Leaning flirtatiously against the desk, he inquired about the 

whereabouts of Commander Une, whom he was due to report 

to today.With a warm smile and a slight come hither look in 

her eyes, the receptionist agreed to take him wherever he 

needed to go.

"Oh baby," he whispered down near her ear as she stood.

"You don't have any idea where I want to go."

As they flirted throughout the trip up to Une's office, Duo 

paid attention with only part of his mind, while the other half 

was busy memorizing the layout and noticing who was 

working in the building.The secretary was nice and it was 

always good to have someone to flirt with, but he was here to 

do a job so he wasn't going to be totally distracted from that.

But he kept the old adage of all work and no play makes Duo 

a dull boy firmly in his mind as he encouraged some 

familiarity with an arm around the pretty girl's shoulders.

Just outside of Une's office, the pair nearly ran into a Chinese 

man, striding purposefully from the room.

"Wu-man!!" crowed Duo with delight, immediately leaving 

the secretary behind to impulsively hug the dark haired 

glowering man."I wondered when I'd get to see you!"

"What brought you here _Duo_?" asked Wufei, purposefully 

delineating Duo's name, reminding Duo how much he detested 

the shortened nominclature he had been awarded by the braided 

pilot of Deathscythe."One had hoped you were staying on L2 

for good now."

"Nah," said Duo, brashly ignoring Wufei's stiff posture and 

delightedly hugging him again."I missed you too much to 

stay away."

"How....special," drawled Wufei with sarcasm, his glare 

daring the other man to touch him again as his body shifted 

to provide more space between them."One hopes then that 

you are making only a brief visit."

"You're gaining a sense of humor Wu-man, as caustic as it 

is!" cheered Duo with enthusiasm.He smiled broadly at 

Wufei's deepening scowl."And good news for you, I'm here 

to stay for a bit.Une gave me a job!"

"More's the pity," grumbled Wufei, turning on his heel.

"Now if you'll excuse me, _I_ have work to do."

Giving the secretary a pointed look, Wufei hurried on his way.

Noticing at that moment that Commander Une had appeared 

in the doorway to investigate the commotion, the secretary 

also decided that it was time to vacate.Duo watched her go 

with some pleasure and certain in the knowledge that he'd 

work on building their relationship later.

Une stood quietly in the doorway for a moment, her eyes 

appraising the figure before her.His lean youthful form had 

filled out into that of a lithe young man.Unconscious grace 

seeped through him making his movements subtle and 

tantalizing to the senses.His long chocolate colored hair was 

woven into the familiar braid and the black clothing encased 

and displayed his fine form and muscles gained doing heavy 

Sweeper work.Those startling violet eyes peeked into his soul 

and radiated the life that he loved.It had been a long time 

since she had seen such a fine specimum of a man.

"Trust you to stir things up the minute you walk in a building," 

commented Une dryly, ushering Duo in to the polished space.

Entering the quiet space, Duo regarded his new superior 

officer careful.Her long chestnut colored hair brushed her 

shoulders and cheeks gently as she moved.Her blue eyes had 

softened with age and experience.Long fingered elegant hands 

punctuated her gestures and her slender form had that delicate 

turn a woman's should.Careful examination though brought 

to light the dark circles beneath her eyes and the slight tremble 

to her hands.Something was upsetting Une and that startled 

Duo deeply.

"Hey, at least I walked in," retorted Duo, settling himself in a 

chair in front of the desk."There were probably about a million 

other ways to choose to get here."

Une shook her head and silky hair brushed against smooth 

cheeks as she smiled ruefully."For the headache hiring you 

is likely to cause me, I hope the pay off is worth it."

"Hey, what more do you want than to have my charming self 

around?" asked Duo with a disarming grin, large hands 

spread in an innocent gesture.

Une smiled in response and then sobered slightly."Actually 

that would be nice, but the reason that I called you here is a 

little more important than that."

Duo instantly came to attention and looked directly at Une's 

serious expression as he leaned forward to meet her steady 

gaze."This is something more than the fancy dancy job title 

you gave me, isn't it?"

Thoughtfully Une nodded and looked Duo over carefully, 

those blue eyes looked concern yet somehow hopeful at the 

same time."The job offer is real and I would like you to 

accept it.There's just a little something extra that comes as 

part of the package."

Intrigued, Duo raised an eyebrow in her direction.It was 

unlike Une to be all mysterious and classified with her 

information.This must be something really big for her to be 

playing her cards so close to her chest.Spotting the shaking 

of her hands as they picked up a pen, it made her more than 

a little nervous in Duo's mind.He decided it was definitely 

the key to those dark circles under her eyes he had spotted 

earlier.

Standing and gesturing Duo to follow her, Une led the way 

to a concealed alcove in corner, hidden away by some potted 

plants.There she pressed a small key and a slender door 

swung open.She led Duo into what seemed to be a second 

office with only a small desk, several cabinets of files and a 

computer.It was an impersonal space, meant to conceal and 

never reveal its secrets.

The door clicked shut behind him as Duo stepped into the 

room.Une clicked a few of the keys on the small computer 

console atop the desk and a white noise generator began 

whirring, hiding those secrets a little further.

Duo looked around at the room in amazement.Duo always 

knew she had more than a few secrets, but he never suspected 

anything this involved."Never would have guessed this room 

existed myself."

"I know," said Une, leaning against the desk, arms folded 

across her chest in a concealing gesture."Working with Treize 

made me paranoid and I had this room built for my own 

benefit when the headquarters were being designed.Only 

myself and one other gentleman know of its existence."

"So what's with all the secrecy, Une," queried Duo, leaning 

against the file cabinet to his right, violet eyes awash with 

curiousity."It's rather unlike your ice queen reputation."

Une smirked."Thank you for considering me at least partly 

human.It has to do with the Preventers."

"Being that we're in Preventer Headquarters, this would seem 

to be the perfect place to bring up such an issue," teased Duo, 

his eyes sparkling merrily attempting to lighten the serious 

attitude.

With a weak smile, Une shook her head."It's not that easy.

It has to do with someone betraying Preventer agents from 

the inside - one of our own has been selling us out."

Shocked into silence, Duo's violet eyes grew hard and 

deepened in color, shining with the light of a dangerous sense 

of protection."Who?" he demanded.

Pushing a hand through her silky brown hair, Une sighed.

"That's the problem.I can't tell, so I started out having to 

suspect everyone in our organization.Until recently I was 

literally doing that!I didn't want to tip my hand that I knew 

it was someone on the inside, but yet, I had to do something."

Duo nodded in agreement, his own countenance thoughtful as 

he considered the possibilities.He desperately wished to 

soothe the older woman across from him."With so many 

employees, are there any you can rule out just by the fact that 

they wouldn't handle such sensitive information?"

Une shook her head in the affirmative."I've done that, weeding 

down through the candidates until I actually have a section 

where the leak must work."

"Where?" demanded Duo roughly, sensing that it had something 

to do with his new job assignment.

"Development," stated Une, concurring Duo's suspicion."I 

know you've worked on and off for us for years, and when the 

head of the department resigned, I thought it would be a good 

time to bring in someone on my side."

Duo stared blankly into space, his thoughts busy with the 

complications and implications of what had been happening.

"And you're sure it wasn't the director?"

With a sigh, Une nodded."He was nearly 75 when he retired 

and was loyal to the Preventers because I backed Relena and 

that was what he wanted.He couldn't have hurt a soul.All he 

wanted was a place to putter and test his experiements.There 

wasn't a deceptive bone in his body."

Riding the train of his thoughts, Duo continued to question 

Une, garnering more and more information about the 

sabotaging of Preventer agents.Some times it was undercover 

agents that were blatantly exposed by underhanded means or 

devices that did not work the way that they were supposed to 

or the agent was prepared to use it incorrectly, sometimes 

resulting in fatal accidents.Une had managed to keep the 

information under raps at the moment, but it was fast becoming 

out of her control.The press were closing in, sensing a story in 

the many deaths or 'accidents' surrounding the work of the 

Preventers.

"I want to get to the bottom of this," growled Une, pacing 

along the small space."I want it stopped and stopped right now.

No one hurts my agents and gets away with it."

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Duo smiled slightly at her words, 

but it never quite reached his eyes.Somewhere deep inside, the 

soul of the Shinigami peered out once more and Une shivered 

slightly.The glow faded slightly and the laughing, smiling Duo 

returned once more.

"Well, first things first," said Duo, rubbing his hands together 

determinedly.He had never been one to back down from a 

mission of any kind."I need a tour of this establishment and 

one of those snazzy uniforms."

Une nodded and caught the wink Duo threw her way.

"Uniforms really attract the ladies after all," he added, making 

Une's smile broaden.

With a laugh, the two emerged from the inner office.Une 

immediately picked up the telephone and summoned Wufei 

back to her office."I want him to give you the tour because he 

knows why you're really here.You and he are the only ones 

privileged to know this information."

Duo smirked."Trusting the two of us together Une?Not 

perhaps your wisest move."

"Perhaps not," laughed Une, tossing her hair back over her 

shoulder."But this way I figure you'll either get along or kill 

each other, thereby saving me the trouble of dealing with it 

either way."

Duo laughed heartily as Wufei knocked smartly on the office 

door and slipped in on silent feet.With a nod, Wufei 

understood that Duo was now fully aware of the situation and 

his role in the operation.A long look passed between the two 

men and boundaries were set and partnership - even friendship - 

was reaffirmed in a glance.

Une rolled her eyes at the masculine peacock preening and 

settled for getting down to business.She handed Duo several 

files and a security card, coded for the highest security level 

possible, and a small laser disc."That's the information you 

will need to do your job.Keep with you at all times.We will 

provide you with any other equipment that you need through 

the standard requisitions - I believe you're aware how that 

works."

Duo simply nodded, accepting the items and immediately 

clipping the badge to the front of his shirt.

Une then continued with her instructions."Wufei, I want you 

to take Duo around and show him the facility and where things 

are.Make sure and get him fitted for a uniform and into his 

office to begin his duties.There's still a workday left here boys."

Knowing that they had been dismissed, Wufei and Duo turned 

as one and quietly left the office behind.After they had shut 

the door behind them, Wufei briskly led Duo down to the main 

floor and down a side hallway to a small supply room that was 

lined with pressed uniforms.

Snickering to himself slightly, Duo selected one of the short 

feminine skirts that functioned as part of the dress uniform.

"What do you think?" he asked Wufei."Does wonders for 

my figure, doesn't it?"

Wufei only snorted in response, taking the offending item 

away from Duo and dragging him over to a selection of more 

appropriate clothing choices."Try these."He smirked slightly 

then."Unless you're more of a ladies man that we previously 

realized."

Duo immediately looked indignant and without another word 

but a scowl for Wufei, who was immensely pleased at having 

scored a point against the brunette, he grabbed the appropriate 

uniform and headed for the small bathroom to change.

While Duo was busy doning the uniform that represented his 

new career, Wufei collected extras of the items for him and 

stuffed them into a regulation bag. 

"How do I look - dashing?" asked Duo as he came out with 

his 'civilian' clothes in a lumpy tangle.He posed flashily for 

an unimpressed Wufei, preening deliberately.

Rolling his eyes in disgust, Wufei held the bag open to accept 

the clothing and then thrust it at Duo."If you mean the ladies 

shall go dashing away, then you look presentable."

Laughing at the joke, Duo slung an arm around Wufei's 

shoulders compainably.For a moment his dark violet eyes 

darken and he spoke quietly."Let's rock and roll."

Silently nodding in agreement, Wufei led the thoughtful Duo 

from the room.In relative peace, except for Wufei's quiet 

explanations or Duo's joking commentary, the pair worked 

their way back to the development section of the Preventer 

Headquarters.

Located a slight distance from the offices and main work areas, 

they walked down several flights of stairs and through a series 

of concrete tunnels before reaching the main entrance.

"Une wanted this area to have privacy, security and the ability 

to run the needed tests without having it located in another city 

entirely," commented Wufei as the entered through the main 

security doors, displaying their ids and palm prints for the 

guards on duty.

Duo scanned the area as he entered through the checkpoint.

He was looking for anything and anyone who was a security 

risk.His nerves were taunt and his senses fine tuned as the 

Shinigami prowled through his skin, staring out through dull 

colored eyes.Information was sorted, classified and stored 

until needed.He wasn't sure what could possibly lead to a clue 

now, but he was looking for any lead to help Une.

Wufei noticed the increase in the intensity of Duo's gaze and 

nodded in thoughtful agreement with Une's choice.Whenever 

there had been something wrong with any of them, it has 

always been Duo to rush in to pick up the pieces.His pure 

passion for LIFE not death was what made him an ideal protector 

of others and defender of the right to live.Wufei admired the grit 

and determination that Duo had always possessed and it was what 

made him such a good friend.

Leading without a spoken word, Wufei guided Duo through the 

main testing areas.He quietly introduced staff members as they 

came across them.Each greeted the new comer eagerly and 

launched quickly into a prompted discussion on the work they 

were doing.They were an enthusiastic bunch, mostly geeks and 

scientists busy with their projects and experiments, their minds 

solving complex electrical problems even as they carried on a 

distracted conversation.

Finally reaching the office area, Wufei introduced Duo to the 

department's director's assistant.He was a good-natured brash 

young man, working in here for his first year.Duo immediately 

like short dark haired man and knew that he was a source to be 

cultivated.The man introduced himself as Kyle Norseman and 

looked very relieved to meet his new director and seemed quite 

eager to please.

Duo pulled open the door to his office then, eager to inspect 

'his' space."My own.... what are you doing in here?" 

demanded Duo, startled to see a pale haired young man searching 

through the files in his cabinet."I thought this was the 

Director's office."

The man across from Duo swallowed nervously.His naturally 

flushed cheeks, turned a deeper shade of red, showing through 

the roots of pale hair.Limpid blue eyes played hide and seek 

behind the thick lenses of his glasses.Nervously a hand pushed 

up the glasses at the nose piece and he cleared his throat.

"I'm Carver Fultz," said the man in a hesitant voice."I'm the

assistant director of this section.Since there's no director at 

the moment, I've been managing things for Commander Une.

In order to do that, I needed a couple of reports from this 

cabinet."

With a nod of understanding, Duo smiled reassuringly at the 

man, relaxing his guard slightly."Didn't mean to scare you, 

I just didn't think there'd be anyone in my office," commented 

Duo, holding out his hand in greeting."I'm Duo Maxwell, the 

new director.Une hired me this afternoon."

Carver quickly excepted the hand offered to him and shook 

it vigorously."Glad to have you here!I was getting a little 

sick of doing all that paperwork anyway!I wish I the 

Commander had informed me sooner of your arrival and I 

would have made sure that we were prepared."

Duo waved off the concern with a flick of his hand."Not 

important in the slightest.She briefed me on a couple of 

things and then you and I can sit down and bring me up to 

speed tomorrow morning.Right now I'm just going to get 

settled in."

"Certainly sir," said Carver respectfully, nodding to both 

Duo and Wufei."I'll just get back to my own office and 

begin working up a list of information that you'll be sure to

need."

With the click of the shut door signaling his departure, Duo 

moved closer to Wufei and lowered his voice."Make sure 

that I get a copy of all the employee records.I want to go 

over them tonight."

"That should be in the stack that Une gave you," noted Wufei, 

gesturing at the files Duo carried."But I'll make sure."

Duo nodded."I'll bring in some of my own stuff and sweep 

this office for anything out of the ordinary.I'll let you know 

in the morning if there's anything that I need."

"Certainly," agreed Wufei, raising the level of his voice.

"Being that there is still part of the day left, I'll leave you to 

get to work.I'm sure that there is something for you to do 

here."

Duo laughed and escorted Wufei to the door."You could 

say that."

Wufei scowled his good-bye and took his leave then, heading 

back to report briefly to Une and then to his own work.

Immediately Duo turned to Kyle and began his own work, 

referring to his assistant for advice and help in locating needed 

files and information.

For nearly a solid week, Duo worked hard.Late into the night 

he searched files and databases, cross-referencing sources, 

searching for the illusive key to the sabetour.Each day he 

pried a little more at the secret, uncovering a new facet or idea 

he had previously overlooked.The employees under his 

direct supervision became wary of his presence at times and 

others rejoiced in his quick wit and ready laugh.Carver and 

Kyle became indespensible with their aid and helping him dig 

for needed information.Even all day every day was never 

enough and his research then lasted late into the night.The 

Shinigami fed on the work in the late night hours, driving his

burning desire to find this person.

At the end of that week, there was another 'accident'.Duo 

personally investigated this one.He came away disgusted 

with the ingenuity of the traitor and more determined than 

ever to stop the madman, as he had come to be thought of by 

Duo.His conclusions were frighteningly cold and calculated 

and his time for making deductions was running out.

He came to share his information with Une that evening and 

found her crying in her office over the loss of 'her' soldiers.

Nothing haunted him more than the sadness in her eyes and 

the helplessness that he felt at seeing her pain.Tenderly he 

folded her in his strong arms and gathered her close to his 

warmth.

"I will get him Une," vowed Duo in a growl."I will."

"And I'll help him," stated Wufei, having entered the room 

on silent feet.He moved to stand next to Une, laying a hand 

against her strong arm."Don't worry.His weakness will be 

revealed."

Duo nodded in agreement and Une smiled weakly at the two 

men."I'll believe you guys, but get me some results soon!"

"Done," said Duo firmly and Wufei smiled, relaxing the 

tenseness from his body.Une's pain disturbed Wufei for some 

reason.There was something about seeing her cry that affected 

him deeply, but it was nothing that he could put a finger on.

Noticing the dark circles beneath the eyes of both Duo and 

Une, Wufei promptly came to a decision."I don't think we're 

going to get anything done tonight though."

"Too weak to work?" teased Duo, a smile on his lips but never

lighting his eyes.

"As if, but you soon will be without a little relaxation," scowled 

Wufei."So I propose a little relaxation for all of us.After all 

Sally...."

"Sally!" cried Une, interrupting Wufei as an expression of 

dismay crossed her features."I forgot all about Sally!"

"Sally?" asked Duo, puzzled slightly."Is she here?I haven't 

seen her around at all."

Wufei nodded."She works as the head of the Medical 

Division so I doubt you'd have much contact with her at 

this time.She's throwing a party tonight."

"She's heading out on a mission and just wanted an excuse 

to see people before she left," said Une with pursed lips.

"Perhaps I should cancel the mission."

With a shake of his head, Wufei negated the thought."You 

know her, she'd just go anyway.But we can at least head out 

to the party.Besides, all work and no play...."

"Makes Duo a dull boy!" laughed Duo and Une and together 

the trio left the office, heading for Sally's and the party.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

C&C ?!I've never written ANYTHING this plot intensive before

so I am really interesting in hearing what ya'll think!


	3. Part Two

Candle light and soul forever

This is for the Strange Days contest.This

pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it

would be an interesting combination.Okay – I think I'm

back on track with writing this now!*grins*You should

also get a big HINT over the main pairing…..

Title: Two Become One 3/?

Author: Rhina

Pairings: You should get a hint this time!Most definitely!

But it's a surprise so I'm not saying a thing now…..

*******

WARNING: Angst

*******

Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts

otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the

school board.I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the

Spice Girls either – thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to

them?!

lyrics 

~~~ scene change ~~~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Come a little bit closer baby, get it on, get it on

'Cause tonight is the night when two become one 

"One never would have suspected you of being a massive 

party animal, Wu-man," mused Duo from the backseat of 

Wufei's overtly practical sedan.

Une looked across at the solemn countenance of Wufei, lit by 

the passing street lights.Deep brown eyes were focused on 

the road, but his mouth frowned at Duo's comment."He's 

right you know Wufei.I don't think I'd ever consider you 

the life of a party," added Une, mischief alive in her voice.

With an indignant huff, Wufei guided the car around the 

corner and into a large parking lot."For your information, I 

do enjoy getting out and being with my friends.And at least 

I understand the value of that next to the pair of an obsessed 

workaholics."

Duo clutched his chest in mock pain as he exited the car.

"Wounded to the quick!To think that the Wu-man would 

ever accuse me of being a workaholic."

Sighing deeply, Une ran a slender hand through deep brown 

hair, reflecting the street light in a radiant shimmer.Wufei's 

eyes followed the movement carefully, but Une was lost in 

her thoughts and she missed the concern evident in his gaze.

"He's right about me at least.I do think I need to start getting 

out more often and doing less brooding on certain subjects," 

admitted Une in a rueful tone.

In a friendly gesture, Wufei wrapped his arm around Une's 

shoulders."This is what I've been trying to tell you," he 

added attempting to look wise beyond his mere 21 years.

"Perhaps now you'll listen to my sage advice."

Snorting with suppressed laughter, Duo slung an arm around 

Wufei's shoulders."You and sage advice – that I doubt.Let's 

just get to the party man."

Rolling his eyes at Dou's lack of faith in his knowledge, 

Wufei led the way across the parking lot and into the small 

apartment building on the opposite side of the road.Without 

a comment, he produced a key to the outside security door 

and let the trio in.

"That serious with Sally, Wu-man?" teased Duo, eager to 

poke Wufei a couple of more times.It was funny to see how 

Wufei reacted now that he had miraculously discovered a 

sense of humor."Key to her apartment and all that."

Wufei turned around and scowled fiercely at Duo, though his 

gaze never left that of Une's face."For your information, 

Sally and I are merely good friends.There is no sordid 

connection between me and this key."

"I didn't think you were having relations with the key," teased 

Duo enjoying the fieriness of Wufei's attitude."I thought it 

was Sally that was the main object of attraction.

Angrily, Wufei punched the up button for the elevator and then rounded on Duo his pent up frustration over always being connected with Sally 

exploding at the nearest target."I don't have anything more 

than a friendship with Sally.I've never seen her as anything 

but a very good friend.She was there when I needed her and 

that's all you really need to know."

Holding up his hands to ward off the onslaught of a furiously 

advancing Wufei, Duo took a step backwards."If you say so 

Wu-man, then I believe you.There's nothing between you 

and Sally."

Nodding defiantly, Wufei turned his back to Duo as the 

elevator doors slid open.Silently he held the parted doors for 

Une, smiling at her slightly."Sorry to be so …. disagreeable," 

murmured Wufei to the lady as the doors closed behind Duo 

who followed them in. 

Wufei's vehemence on the topic puzzled Duo.He had always 

assumed that Wufei and Sally were a done deal.Anything 

different was a complete surprise.He continued to quietly 

digest the information and observed the Chinese man without 

further comment.

Une smiled softly, laying a gentle hand on Wufei's arm, 

hoping to calm him down."It's quite all right.I'm sure 

you're just tired of people insinuating about a relationship 

that doesn't really exist at this time."

Wufei nodded and leaned back against the wall of the 

elevator, contemplating his female companion, while trying 

to drive a point home to the male one."I don't think there 

will ever be more than friendship between us.We're kind of 

like oil and water – not a whole lot of mixing going on."He 

shook his head and pulled himself from his reverie as the 

elevator doors slid open once more."Here's our floor though."

Smiling to herself, Une tucked away the knowledge that 

Wufei had just imparted to her.There was something about 

it that tantalized her heart and she wanted a chance to savor 

it and think about it later.

Duo left his contemplation behind as he exited the elevator, 

his braid swinging excitedly behind him.Violet eyes danced 

with suppressed excitement as he rubbed his hands together 

as Wufei led them down the hall and knocked on the third 

door on the left."I'm ready to party."

Wufei and Une laughed then, enjoying the undisguised glee 

on his face.The broad grin lit his face and for the first time 

since Une and shared his 'special assignment' with him, the 

dark Shinigami vanished from his face completely.Une 

sighed inaudibly as she felt some of the guilt at thrusting such 

a chore on his shoulder slip away and shared an understanding 

smile with Wufei as the door to the apartment was thrown open.

Standing just inside the door was perhaps the most gorgeous 

blonde female that Duo had ever seen.She took his breath 

away with the long golden curls falling over one shoulder and 

the bright shining blue eyes that smiled out at the trio in 

welcome.Her lithe form was encased in a well molded blue 

shirt and a pair of sleek black shorts above the longest pair of 

golden legs he'd ever seen.His eyes focused on the only other 

ornament she wore.The dark blue dragon tattoo twined its 

way around a slim ankle across a bare slender foot.Never had 

Duo seen such delectable ankles.Hell, he'd never thought of 

ankles as seductive before!

Mentally Duo kicked himself for drooling so obviously, but 

he had to get to know this lovely creature.He knew 

instinctively that he was drawn to her the way flies were to 

attracted to sweet pure sweet honey.Every masculine ounce 

of his flesh screamed at him to make this woman his and join 

with her in the intimate dance that a couple shared.

With hooded violet eyes watching carefully, the blonde 

glomped the Chinese man, wrapping her arms close around

him.Duo growled softly to himself, the green eyed monster 

possessing him as he contemplated _his_ woman belonging 

to another.Giving himself a mental shake, he wondered just 

how his mind had decided that she belonged to him.

"Wufei," she cried with delight."I'm so glad that you 

managed to pry yourself away from that ever so interesting 

paperwork."

"Just because I have a work ethic Sally is no reason to think I 

don't know how to have fun, you should be quite aware of that," 

growled Wufei with a smothered laugh, enjoying the repartee 

that went along with their friendship."But I figured you would 

be lost without my presence, so I decided to drop by."

Stunned, Duo contemplated the blonde even further, now seeing 

the tall woman he had met before.It had been several years 

since he had been in the same room with the enticing female 

though and he realized that time did make a great difference with 

some things.He was looking forward to a certain renewal of 

acquaintances, glad to already have an 'in' with her.Their history 

gave him an edge over all the other guys he was sure were 

clamoring for her hand.

"Besides," added Une dryly, "Wufei merely wanted an excuse 

to drag me away from the work I needed to get done."

Sally reached out and hugged Une then, smiling at her 

commander's comment."You know you should relax more.

I'd harp on it too, but he usually beats me to it for some reason.

For once, Wufei was right.I must note this down in my journal."

Blue eyes glinted with wicked pleasure, watching Wufei's face 

for a reaction.

Continuing to watch the byplay with interest, Duo's mind 

worked furiously to devour every sight of the luscious female 

in front of him.And it rejoiced in the knowledge that Wufei 

was only in interested in a friendship with the beauty.He only 

hoped that she felt the same about Wufei.He wasn't so sure 

with the way that she continued to smile and tease him, holding 

his arm tightly.

"And who's this?" asked Sally, blue eyes turning to Duo, who 

started under the concentrated gaze.

"You don't remember Duo?!" asked Wufei with amazement, 

but the considered the idea carefully."Though I suppose one 

does try to forget the unpleasant memories."

Sally poked Wufei who grinned unrepentantly in response 

and then moved forward to stand across from Duo."Of course 

I remember Duo."She titled her head back, long hair falling 

loose against her back."You certainly grew up."

"That does happen I'm told," smiled Duo and Sally knew she was totally lost.His arms stole around her in a casual embrace of friendship, but Sally found herself holding her breath."It's good to see you again," said Duo.His words 

rumbled through his chest and Sally reveled in every vibration.

The mere timbre of his voice sent sparks down her spine.

With a delighted silent sigh, Sally melted into the hug.Duo 

had become a warm solid man.His height now deliciously 

topped her own and the strength and the sexuality he radiated 

pulled at her feminine core.He still wore his chestnut hair in 

a long enticing braid and his violet eyes shone with passion 

and humor.Sally was positive that the strength of his character 

surely must match the ever so appealing package it was 

wrapped in.

Never had Sally fallen in so lust quickly before.So sure, there 

had been lots of 'nice' guys, but nothing that even came close 

to rivaling the feelings cursing through her veins at the moment.

She silently cursed the fact that she was to leave for a mission 

tomorrow and would be without that chance to follow her 

feelings for a good bit of time.Determinedly, she swore to 

make sure that Wufei kept this man safe for her until she 

returned and she knew that if at all possible, she'd make this 

the shortest mission on record.

Reluctantly, Sally pulled out of Duo's embrace and turned 

her now radiant smile on the trio, though her blue eyes 

remained fixed on the interested face of Duo."Come on in 

then.Have something to eat and drink.We're just sitting 

around chatting mostly."

With enthusiasm, the group followed Sally back in to her 

apartment.Certain violet orbs followed the sway of sexy hips 

as the owner of said hips swore to entice this man to her side 

before the party was over.Both had their work cut out for 

them.

But the fates worked overtime that night to conspire against 

them.There seemed to be people clamoring for their attention 

and long drawn out conversations that never brought them in 

to contact with one another.Like wary tigers, the pair circled 

each other around the room, looking, but never getting close 

enough to touch.Regret sparked through both of them as they 

never saw the other looking at them or even felt the awareness 

of the longing gazes of the other.There was an almost tangible 

sense of loss that neither of them could quite define.

With a sad sigh, Sally realized the night was nearly over and 

that she had never even had a chance to speak to Duo alone.

She automatically made parting good-byes to a friend, her eyes 

trained across the room where Duo was having an animated 

conversation with the perky redheaded secretary.Suddenly 

that secretary seemed to be too perky and too cute and _way_ 

too close to Duo for Sally's comfort.

"He's something all grown up isn't he?" asked Une softly.

Her silent tread had brought her next to Sally.She watched 

the blonde's fixed gaze with some amusement.If someone 

had told her that Sally would become obsessed with Duo a 

week ago, she would have had a very hearty chuckle at their 

expense.But seeing, did make believers out of doubters.

"Yes," agreed Sally quietly, dragging her gaze from the male 

to face her commander."Too bad he doesn't even notice me."

Une raised an eyebrow in reply, but choose to ignore the 

comment for now.As pleased as she was that Sally had found 

someone, she needed a clear thinking operative for the mission 

ahead."You ready for tomorrow?"

Bringing her mind out of its hormone induced fog, Sally 

nodded to Une."My contacts are set and I leave early 

tomorrow for the first stop.It will take me a bit to set up 

communication channels with you, so don't be worried if you 

don't hear from me right away."

Frowning, Une realized that she was sending an agent in 

undercover without a way to get backup if needed."Maybe 

this isn't such a good idea.I don't like the thought of you 

being without backup.Perhaps we should cancel the 

operation."

Sally shook her head."I'll be fine.I doubt anyone will make 

the connection between Margo Fairchild and the Preventers.

And you know well enough that I'm perfectly capable of 

taking care of myself."

Sighing, Une knew she had hit Sally's stubborn determination 

head on."All right, but as your commander I need to know 

_where_ you are going.I know the whys and wherefores, but 

not the location.Though why you concealed that information, 

I'll never know."

"And right now I won't tell you why, but I'll tell you the 

where is L2," said Sally bluntly."The whole smuggling ring 

seems to stem straight from there.It's really an ideal location 

if you think about it.We're just lucky that they were looking 

to recruit 'qualified' doctors."

More comfortable at least knowing where Sally would be, 

Une nodded her agreement just as Wufei joined them.

"Ready to go Une?" asked Wufei, his eyes showing concern 

for the tiredness that was etched on her face.

Smiling at his concern, Une nodded and watched as Wufei 

gestured to Duo that they were leaving.Like a slow toffee 

pull, Duo left the secretary behind and joined the group at the 

door.

Violet eyes roamed across Sally's face, her eyes which were 

suspiciously bright and her smile seemed slightly false to his 

eyes.He cursed the gods that had never given them some time 

alone this evening.He made a silent promise to overcome any 

obstacle to be with her.Before he lost his nerve, he quickly 

asked her, "We never get to renew that old acquaintance Sally.

Perhaps you'd consider dinner with me tomorrow."

Continuing to hold her smile to the best of her ability, Sally 

shook her head."I'm afraid I won't be in town tomorrow.In

fact, I don't when I'll be available for awhile."

"Oh," said a down-hearted Duo.He knew his answer about 

whether or not she liked him or pined for Wufei for sure now.

Pasting on a cheerful smile, though his eyes were dark and 

solemn, he joined the trio in departing from the apartment.

As the door closed behind them, Une and Wufei exchanged 

looks, passing silent messages between them.Duo withdrew 

into himself and they let him.The drive through the dark 

streets was deathly silent as Wufei went toward Une's condo 

complex.Without a word uttered other than a quiet good-bye, 

Une exited the car after another significant look at Wufei.

He nodded to her and pulled the car away from the curb once 

he was certain she was inside safely.

In the dim light, Wufei looked across at the brooding Duo.

Concern for his friend was clearly written on his features.He 

was fairly positive that Duo had fallen for Sally, but was 

unsure that Duo realized how Sally had reacted to Duo's 

presence.Contemplating how to bring the subject up, he drove 

on through the streets.Then he realized the information that 

Duo had forgotten in regards to his dinner invitation.

Duo stared blankly out the window.His mind was focused on 

the final rejection from Sally.He hadn't realized how painful 

such a simple no could be.Wondering what was wrong with 

him, he began to berate himself for thinking he could win her so 

easily.Just because he was head over heels in lust didn't mean 

she even felt remotely the same about him.

His revive was interrupted by Wufei's quiet tone."Don't 

forget, Sally's leaving for a mission tomorrow."

"What?" squawked Duo, shocked as his brain immediately 

launched into overdrive.It went from understanding relief at 

the knowledge of why Sally turned him down to pure fright at 

the thought of her being in deathly danger."A mission?!With 

that maniac on the loose?!Une has got to cancel this mission!"

Duo scrambled for his cell phone to place the urgent call to his 

commander.

"She won't," said Wufei calmly."Sally's already refused to 

let her and Sally's even more stubborn than Une.The mission's 

a go.Sally heads underground for a mission that only Une is 

privileged to tomorrow morning."

Seething at his lack of control over the issue, Duo snarled, 

"Well, she's going to damn well tell me if I'm to protect Sally."

And with that he slammed out of the car just as Wufei slowed in 

front of his apartment building.

Smiling at the thought of Duo's torment and desire for his golden 

haired friend, he shook his head and pulled away from the curb. 

The pair were certainly a match for each other.Now how to get 

them together was more of a puzzle.Perhaps locking them in a 

closet when the mission was over….Chuckling quietly to himself 

at the mental images, he made his way home.

~~~ The next morning, 5am Earth, Preventer Headquarters ~~~

Duo scowled at his cup of coffee, weary eyes barely able to focus 

due to only a brief amount of sleep.He had tossed and turned 

throughout the night alternately haunted with images of a bloody 

Sally as death came to collect her and the sensual callings of his 

body for hers.The shortness of his sleep made him doubly irritable 

this morning since mornings were never his prime time.But that

irritability was compounded by his worry for Sally and his 

anxiousness to have the information he wanted from Une.In order 

to make sure she provided that information, he camped himself in 

her office, waiting silently.

He nursed the cup of coffee until the sun seeped over the 

horizon and poured like molasses into the room.At that moment, 

Une opened the door to her office and spotted the blazing head 

of chestnut hair.Right away she knew it was going to be a long 

day.

"Hello Duo," she said, closing the door with a click behind her.

"Tell me about her mission Une," growled Duo, forgoing all 

pleasantries in return for demands of the facts."I need to know 

so I can protect her."

Hiding a secret smile of pleasure at his concern for Sally, Une 

schooled her features and sat down in her desk chair, fingers 

steepled in front of her."All right."

~~~ Enroute to L2 ~~~~

Sally sighed softly to herself as she attempted to make herself 

more comfortable on the hard plastic crate.It certainly wasn't 

designed for sitting on for any length of time and her body was 

letting her know.She watched as the sun slid from behind the 

Earth and thought again about how much she really didn't want 

to be here or headed towards the danger she was.

Sighing once more, she shoved the longing and lustful thoughts 

away and concentrated on the work ahead.

"All right Margo," she whispered, pushing the glasses further 

up her nose."Show us your stuff."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Next time on Two Become One – Sally's Mission and Duo's Admission.

Join us then when you'll hear Duo Say:

"But I never use chocolate sauce that way!"

C&C?!Thanks for reading!!

^_^

Rhina


	4. Part Three

This pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it

This pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it

would be an interesting combination.Action this time around.

First time I have ever written an action (read PLOT) orientated 

fic so we shall see how this goes!

Title: Two Become One 4/?

Author: Rhina

Pairings: 2xS and one more – see if you can find it!

*******

WARNING: Angst and Language

*******

Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts

otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the

school board. I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the

Spice Girls either – thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to

them?!

lyrics 

~~~ scene change ~~~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I need some love like I've never needed love before   
(wanna make love to ya baby)  
I had a little love, now I'm back for more   
(wanna make love to ya baby)

~~~ Somewhere, L2 ~~~

Reflexively Sally reached up to tug on the end of her braid in a 

typical nervous gesture.Finding the braid missing reminded her 

of the role she was playing and how Margo Schwartz would 

never think if doing something as juvenile as fiddling with her 

hair.Unless of course it was an action deliberately meant to 

entice the man of her choice to her side.And that was the tactic 

that 'Margo' endeavored to employ on the young nervous 

looking man across from her.

"Come on sweetness," she purred softly, her fingers stroking 

down the silky length off a curl that had come loose from the 

clip holding it back."Just let me in to see the boss.I swear all 

my qualifications are in order."

Clearing his throat and attempting to avoid the distraction of 

Sally's enticing cleavage well displayed as she leaned forward, 

he examined the papers once more.The documents did make it 

appear as if she had completed a rigorous medical training and 

though there seemed to be a couple of shading things about her 

past before that time.He knew that would never bother the boss – 

he merely wanted someone who could figure out how to make the 

incision and remove the correct organ intact, regardless of what 

happened to the donor later.

He did a quick scan of the data disk's information that had been 

gathered off several extensive illegal searches of some criminal 

record databases and found some notes of prior arrests and 

felonies throughout the colonies, but nothing that would prevent 

them from considering Ms. Schwartz as a potential employee.

The sweet enticing smell of her perfume wafted towards him and 

overwhelmed his more reasonable senses at that moment.

"All right Ms. Schwartz," he said, staring with an almost dreamy 

fascination at the cleavage displayed by the v in her shirt.He 

was sure it hadn't been that deep before."I need to go and confer 

with my superior about your application and then I will be right 

back."

A long finger traced a path down his baby smooth cheek, 

startling him and making his muddy brown eyes open wide.

"Don't be too long now," whispered Sally."It can get mighty 

lonesome for a women around these colonies."

He gulped and turned, fleeing for the sanctuary of the inner 

office.He didn't dare act on the hormonal impulses that skidded 

along his skin at her presence, because he knew the boss would 

rather explore her perfection by himself before deciding if she 

was available goods.

Sally sighed with relief as the greasy little minion scuttled off.

Coming on to the man gave her the willies up and down her 

spine and made her long to remove her own internal organs with 

a dull spoon rather than conceive of actually being intimate with 

such a … thing.Her thoughts strayed for a moment to the fine 

form of a man she had seen in Duo before she left and she quickly 

jerked her train of thoughts off that course.She couldn't afford 

to be distracted by intense sexual longing at the moment.She 

had a job to do and she needed to get it done so she could return 

to being Sally Po and not this awful persona she had adopted in 

order to complete her mission.

Remembering the importance of her mission, she relegated 

Duo to the back of her mind and only a slightly longing ache 

in her heart and moved on with what she needed to get done.

She slinked around the edge of the desk and keyed on the 

computer terminal that was rather prominent.A moments cursory 

search assured her that there was nothing of value on the machine.

"It would make more sense for them to have such information 

squirreled away somewhere 'discreet'," muttered Sally as she 

came back to her side of the desk.Her silent footsteps paced the 

carpet as she contemplated her next move.She only hoped that 

Margo was enticing enough to be taken on by these guys 

otherwise she'd be back to breaking and entering and some things 

were so much easier on the inside.

As she paced across the small office for what seemed like the 

12 millionth time, the door to the inner office swung open and 

the greasy male 'secretary' appeared once more.Sally 

immediately turned the full wattage of her smile on him."So 

what's the verdict?" came her purring voice.

Gulping again, the man shuffled his papers in a fidgeting 

gesture and made a slight bow in her direction."The director 

seems to feel that your qualifications are the exact ones needed 

of a candidate for the position, but he wishes to conduct the 

interview…personally," coughed the suddenly nervous man.

Sally puzzled about his behavior behind shuttered eyes as 

Margo came forth and tossed her hair back in a seemingly 

careless seductive gesture."If that's what it takes to get the job," 

she murmured, leaning close and trying not to breathe in the 

scent of his slightly panicked aroma, "then I'm definitely your 

lady.Lead on McDuff."

Still puzzled by the sudden need for an interview, Sally swayed 

her hips as her body moved with unconscious grace into the inner 

office.She was concerned about the director's departure from his 

standard routine.According to the source she had had inside the 

operation before, the director's common hiring procedures were 

very simple.Show up with a resume or documents that some how 

reflected medical knowledge and you were hired.There had never 

been a mention of an interview.

She knew that there wasn't a shred of information in those forged 

documents that could possibly connect her to the Preventers or 

the Alliance by any stretch of the imagination so there would be 

no reason for something to be such a concern.She didn't like it 

when people deviated from their normal practices, especially when 

she was operating undercover without any backup.Crossing her 

fingers deep inside the pocket of her tailored black blazer, she 

entered the office and lit the dark room with her blinding smile.

The cavernous room was barely lit by the bluish glow of the 

huge fish tanks that lined the walls.A small lamp shown on the 

sleek black desk, but no other source of illumination was visible 

in the room.The lack of light made it difficult for her to identify 

all the items in the space at first glance.But within a moment or 

two, her vision cleared enough for her to identify several chairs, a

long sofa that looked like it was covered in something akin to 

leather and a huge conference table surrounded by more stiff chairs.

Everything seemed to absorb the blue light rather than reflecting and 

Sally assumed that it had all be chosen for the eerie atmosphere that 

it created.She hoped the shivers racing down her spine weren't 

noticeable to anyone but her.

Having regained some of her ability to see, she spotted something 

behind the long desk.It took her a moment of looking to decide 

that it was the silhouetted form of a man.Being unable to tell 

whether he was worth Margo's time or not, Sally decided that the 

practical approach was more sure of winning her a position in this 

man's notorious organization."Good Day sir, I was told you were

interested in talking to me."

The hazy silhouette turned around in the chair and regarded her 

carefully.Sally watched the blue light glint off of his odd-shaped 

half-glasses and slicked back dark hair. His suit was dark in 

color and obviously of a high quality cut, but it was his hands that 

drew her attention.The seemed to be trying to display the affect 

of years of wealth, but the careful manicure, even in the dimness 

of the light, couldn't hide the rough scars of deep cuts and slashes 

that could only have come from a very sharp blade.Something

like a scalpel perchance.

"Yes," came the deep voice from the darkness."My assistant 

informed me that you had some very high qualifications that 

merited further investigation.Come and have a seat."

Sally accepted the proffered chair with some uneasiness.There 

was no going back now though – she had unfailingly committed 

Margo to this arrangement and by God she'd get her out of here 

in one piece."Thank you.I hadn't been expecting an interview 

though.I had thought I would get a job."

He waved away her concern while offering her a refreshing 

drink.Sally politely declined the offer, she liked to know all 

of the contents of her drinks before she ingested them.

"The interview process is new I'm afraid," concluded the man 

as he returned to his seat behind the expanse of the desk."I've 

had some rather unfortunately ungrateful employees the last 

couple of months and I have no wish to repeat the performance."

"Ahh," nodded Sally sagely."I can understand your need for 

new employees then.I would certainly be _grateful_ for any 

employment that you can offer me and I am certain that you'll 

find all my qualifications are in order."

"Yes," agreed the man, shifting through the papers that resided 

neatly in a dark folder on a single corner of the desk."Your 

qualifications are most impressive along with the notices of a 

couple of 'incidents' on L2 and L5."

With a careless shrug and a semi-seductive flip of her hair, 

Margo shooed the concerns away."Those are long forgotten 

I'm sure."

"A master forger and a skilled 'plastic surgeon' merely forgotten?" 

asked the man with a single raise of his eyebrow."Somehow I 

don't think that's forgotten."

Margo smiled seductively and leaned over the desk, blue eyes 

glittering as a small scalpel appeared in her hand without effort.

"It is when you talk to all the right people."

The man leaned back in his chair, tilting toward the blue light 

of the fish tank.Behind him the careless motions of a shark 

slipped through the water."You are quite right.And you seem 

to be the perfect candidate for the position I have open."

"Oh?" said Margo with interest as the scalpel disappeared as 

slightly as it had been conjured to her hand."And what position 

might that be?"

"I have some, well, clients for lack of a better word," admitted 

the sleek man in a soft dangerous voice."They have certain 

requests that I try to fulfill."

"Requests for what?" asked Sally, anxious to have her suspicious 

confirmed by the head of the organization she wanted to nail to 

the wall.

"For some needed organs."

"Organs?"This time it was Margo's turn to raise an eyebrow. 

"If you're requiring some form of surgery, which I believe you 

are do to the 'rigorous' job requirements, then I needed to know 

what I'm removing.I'm not a fly by the seat of your pants 

type girl."

The man nodded, his dark gaze assessing her through those 

weird half-lenses once more. The blonde beauty across from 

him was definitely not their typical applicant for such an 

unappealing position.Her qualifications definitely meant that 

she had merit as a candidate, but yet there was something 

'overdone' about them.He shook his head about the suspicions, 

knowing that he had been in the business far too long if he began 

to suspect every mercenary blonde than came across his path.

"Human organs," he finally admitted in a graveled voice."There 

is a great demand from a certain clientele to have human organs 

instead of the synthetic ones manufactured now.They wish to 

remain purely human – not plastic bi-products.I meet those 

demands when no one else will."

Sally managed to keep the slight thrill at his admittance to the 

illegal organ trafficking she had suspected the underground ring 

of for more than four years.She was definitely closer than ever 

to nailing them with something, she only needed that elusive 

piece of conclusive proof that damned all the guilty parties."I 

can understand their concern and the need for privacy then.

Where do you find such willing donors?" she inquired, attempting 

a bored yet interested look, the shine of her blue eyes dulled by 

the dimness of the light even as it gave her hair an eerie aura.

"Here and there," said the man off-handedly.The gaze through 

the glasses became narrow-eyed and fierce as he continued.

"There are some things that your position does not need to be 

concerned with.You are to removed the required organ, make 

it ready to be delivered to the waiting customer and not ask a lot 

of questions."

"I know when and where to keep my nose out of things," said 

Margo as she raised her hands before her in a placating gesture.

"Are they supposed to be returned semi whole or do I not worry 

about any more damaged goods than the organ?"

"The organ and getting it to the client intact and on time are 

your only concern," was the cold response, eyes still examining 

her in microscopic detail.

Whatever he finally saw must have pleased him for he broke 

of his regard to reach down and bring out a file and slide it 

across the desk to her."I think though that as long as you agree 

to keep your nose to yourself," he said quietly, "we shall have 

an excellent working relationship with someone such as your 

qualifications."

Margo smiled brightly at him."I can certainly do that," she 

said taking the file."I assume that everything I need to know 

is in here."

The man nodded and tapped the file again."There is housing 

information in here and a schedule and who you can contact 

with questions.Other than that I shouldn't hear from you, 

should I?"

"Certainly not," smiled Margo once more, taking the file and 

standing gracefully."It was nice to meet you and I look forward 

to the work.Later."

Margo's graceful form shifted from the leather chair that had 

molded itself to her shape.She saluted him lazily and sauntered 

across the office.A slender hand grasped the doorknob and 

pulled it open, letting herself out of the office after tossing a final 

smile and a wink in the director's direction.

He watched her go without comment, making sure that the 

door was latched before he moved from his chair.Striding 

across the room purposefully, he moved to a far corner from the 

desk, behind the large conference table.There he touched a 

nearly invisible panel and watched patiently as one of the large 

tanks slid back and to the side to reveal a long dimly lit hallway.

Without hesitation, he moved down the hallway, only a slight 

limp marring his movements.He came to the third door on his 

left, one that looked just like all the others in the hallway with the 

exception of the emanation of loud ruckus rock music from 

behind the thick grey steel door.His palm print on the id plate 

next to the door made it slide open noiselessly, though any noise 

whatsoever would have definitely been masked by the sheer 

volume of the music and bass pumping from the room's stereo 

equipment.

The soul occupant of the room was a long haired redhead who 

was currently seated in front of a large computer screen head-

banging to the beat of the music.Long-fingered hands flew 

across the keyboard at an amazing rate while his eyes, despite 

the head-banging, kept track of the huge amounts of information 

scrolling across the large screen in front of him.The light 

colored clothes he wore contrasted starkly with the dimly lighted 

atmosphere and the dark equipment around him.

With an efficient snap, the director turned off the music, 

plunging the room into a sudden deafingly silence."Ty," stated 

the director in a harsh commanding tone.

"Ah come on man," said the redhead, swiveling his chair 

around in an effortless gesture.His lanky body sprawled across

the surface of the chair portraying an air of careless grace, 

almost like a cat looking for the perfect thing to pounce on.His

long hair clung to his cheeks and hid the coldness of his amber 

gaze from the director's view.His lips seemed to be formed into 

a permanant sneer."It was just getting to the good part."

The director flung a sheaf of papers at the redhead and glare 

across the top of his glasses at his hacker.He'd fire the 

impudent upstart if he could, but he was far to valuable to dismiss 

on a whim."Find out all you can about Ms. Margo Schwartz."

The young man laughed."Margo Schwartz?"

Scowling the director nodded.

"What am I looking for this time?Blackmail material?

History?What?" Ty asked, caressing the file in a way that sent 

shivers through the director.

It was definitely better to keep the young man confined where 

he could see him rather then letting him run free where he 

could easily ruin the organization, despite the creepy signals 

he sent off."Anything and everything."

The redhead raised a single eyebrow at the remark."Oh really?"

"I want to know everything from where she buys her underwear 

to why the hell she showed up on our doorstep looking for a job," 

scowled the director.His need to protect himself and his lifestyle 

was busy sending out warning signals about Margo Schwartz for 

some reason."She's too good to be true, too pat, too eager to work

for us and asks far too many questions.There's something more 

to her than the quick records search can show."

"All right boss man," said Ty as he swung back around to face 

the green-lit terminal screen."I'll let you know when I find 

something."

Satisfied that the matter was being taken care of, the director 

turned to exit the office.

"Oh," added the redhead, watching the opening of the door in 

the reflection of his screen, "make sure and turn the music back 

on will you?"

Without a motion the door whooshed shut leaving only silence 

behind.

"Well well well," mused the redhead as he opened the file and 

snapped his fingers, which made the music resume at its 

customary volume."What secrets have you got to tell Ms. 

Margo?"

Propping up the large picture contained in the file, he entered 

her name and devilled into the digital world.

~~~ Office of the Director of Development, Preventer HQ ~~~  
  


Duo sat in his office deep in thought.He was pondering a 

short list of names and working through a mental list of 

information on each culprit.Some of the names were certainly 

the ones any brief scan would turn up, but there was a couple 

that seemed out of place.There just never seemed to be one 

that stood out in his mind though, despite the in-depth information 

he was now privileged to hold.

The lights were on low and the only sound in the office was the 

low key hum of his computer.Most everyone had left for the 

day and he was gratified to have the time to be at work and do 

some research with their more capable computers.There were 

only a few more pieces of information that the computer work 

had turned up and he was back to his own mental assests to 

discover the culprit of the crimes.

The faint sounds of heavy metal drifted into the office.Duo 

found himself humming along and tapping his foot to the heavy 

beat.It seemed that one of his younger techs was working late 

and had fine musical taste.Duo found that the music stirred 

his blood and made the thinking process a little more rapid.

"Somewhere I am missing the darn key," he muttered to 

himself, fingers reflexively drumming out the harsh beat.

"But then, this is just a search based on a possible motive.

Maybe I need to figure out who held the information on all 

of the downed agents…"

He began to rummage through the files on his suspects once 

more, linking together a few more pieces before he was startled 

by the clearing of someone's throat.

"I'm sorry Director, I didn't realize you were still here," came 

the nervous voice of his assistant Director, Carver.In a 

heartbeat, he was blushing, something that Duo swore he did 

even in his sleep."The light wasn't on you see and I thought I 

would come in a get the file that I needed…."

He folded and crossed his hands nervously, the thickness of 

his lenses hiding most of his expression from Duo's inquisitive 

look.His shirt was neatly pressed and his trousers creased as 

if he had just put them, which would be weird considering the 

hour of the night.His limpid blonde hair was carefully smoothed 

back and gave the appearance of being well-molded into place.

Duo wondered though why the neat and immaculate young man 

always seemed so nervous around him.There never seemed to 

be any need since we was always organized and efficient in his 

work.Something about that nervousness struck Duo as odd and 

out of place, but he dismissed it without further thought, his mind 

returning to its busy workings on the puzzle at hand.

"Not a prob," answered Duo, scooting away several papers and 

wiping his computer screen clear."What were you looking for?"

"Ummm," said Carver, clearing his throat again."Just trying 

to remember who all is out on assignment in Director Po's 

section."

Immediately Duo's mind conjured up a mental image of the 

striking blonde.He could had sworn that he felt drool forming 

at the mere thought of those long legs and golden hair wrapped 

around him.He imaged those baby blues looking at him with 

lust and desire as that small pink tongue swiped across her lips.

And then he jerked himself back, his body painfully hard, as he 

realized Carver had said something.

"What was that again?" he asked, shifting to find a more 

comfortable spot on his chair, the ache settling deep inside him 

once more.

"I said that I had gone to ask Director Po, but I have been 

unable to contact her or find her in her office for the past several 

days," stated Carver, anything other than mere curiosity and a 

desire to complete his job, hidden by those maddening glasses 

and the darkness of the room."I normally make sure that the 

agents are receiving the devices that they need and that all is 

going smoothly, but without knowing who is out there, I'm not 

able to complete that part of this chore."

"Ahhh," said Duo, his mind still slightly blurred by the 

lustfilled thoughts and ponderings about how to fulfill those 

fantasies as he off-handedly gave away severely classified 

information."Sally's off on a mission."

"A mission?" asked Carver, leaning forward with his curiosity 

overwhelming him."Itmust have been important if Director 

Po went.Do you know where she went so I can be in contact 

with her?"

Duo continued to absently answer the questions as his mind 

prowled along the idea that he could go and meet her on the 

mission.Give her a safe haven.Especially since the site was 

his old hunting grounds.No one there knew of his promotion 

and he could slid in easily with the old gangs."Somewhere 

on L2."

Shaking himself from the depths of his imagination, Duo 

brought himself to his present.He forestalled any more questions 

about Sally with his next words."Don't worry about Sally 

though, she's more than able to take care of herself and I'm 

pretty sure she's only in contact with Une anyway."

"That doesn't sound very…safe, sir," commented Carver, 

continuing to press the issue."I'd like to be able to check in a 

make sure that she is alright."

Duo leaned over the desk and met the man's gaze with his own 

vivid violet stare.The words that came from his throat were 

harsh and menacing and had the edge of Shinigami."Don't 

worry about Sally.She'll be taken care of."

The man inhaled sharply and the abruptly stood."I understand 

sir.If you'll excuse me then, I think I'll head home."

Duo sighed as he leaned back and relaxed into his seat once 

more.He cursed his own inappropriate behavior and wondered 

what the hell he had been thinking giving away such sensitive 

information.There was certainly no way he could take it back 

now, so figuring out a solution for it was certainly beyond him.

Instead he needed to find the culprit as fast as he could now.

His brain quickly returned to the complex issue and began 

connecting who had the information about the agent and who 

could have twisted the key to do them in.Minutes turned into 

an hour and he slowly began to realize someone that they had 

all overlooked.As a loyal officer to Une and Treize, he had 

been considered someone loyal to them personally and 

supporting whichever cause they upheld.Because of those 

assumptions, this person had never truly been a suspect and 

cleared in a rather rote manner. But yet, this person knew all 

the information and was the vital key in all the missions that 

went bad.

Shit.They were in Deep Shit.

Worse.Sally was in deep shit and he had done her in….

"Fuck," swore Duo."Fuck. Fuck.FUCK!!!Sally!!"

Without another word he cleared his findings from his desk 

and headed for Une's office at a dead run.

~~~ A Hidden Apartment, L2 ~~~

Sally came in the small apartment and shut the door behind 

her, leaning against it with an exhausted sigh.It had been a 

long day of demanding operations and she still had some 

undercover work to do this evening.

None of her work during the day had brought her anywhere 

near the information that was vital to breaking the case wide 

open.So she was resorting to sneaking into the offices at night.

This kind of work was not her forte but to bring these mass 

murders down, she'd do just about anything now.

Having seen the inside of the operation left her sickened and 

weak.The gross waste of human life was truly tragic and there 

was nothing she longed for more than strangling the man in 

charge with her bare hands while the building went down in 

flames.

Snarling with desire at the thought, she retreated to the 

bedroom to change her clothes.A nice basic black seemed to 

be the latest choice in fashion these days.Too bad she looked 

so bad in it.

"The sacrifices a girl makes," she said with a smile as she 

pulled out a change of clothes.As she stripped and took a 

brief shower, she allowed her thoughts to stray to Duo Maxwell 

and linger with the pleasing images.As she slowly dried her 

hair, her mind reveled in the mere idea of him sharing the

intimacy of these tasks with her.

Shaking the images away as she dressed, Sally prepared herself 

inside and out for the task ahead of her this evening.Hoping 

it all went smoothly so that she might hurry home to what she 

was longing for.

~~~ Commander Une's Office, Preventer HQ ~~~

"Une!" cried Duo, swinging open the door to her office wildly 

and with a loud bang it slammed into the wall."Une!"

Une lifted her face, smiling a slightly silly grin, from the piece 

of folded notepaper in front of her.At the sight of Duo's deadly 

Shinigami look, she laid it aside and assumed a business like 

look."What?"

"I've found your killer," snarled Shinigami as he leaned over 

her desk."Sally's going to find herself in deep shit in less than 

24 hours if I miss my guess."

"Sally?!" cried Une with concern."But no one knows where 

she is but you and…"

Une broke off with a silent exclamation of distress when Duo 

shook his head.

"He knows," whispered a pained Shinigami."With my own

mouth I admitted it.I've totally fucked her over.I doubt she'll 

forgive me."

"Duo," murmured Une, concerned for the mental state of the 

young man in front of her."I'm sure it was an accident…"

"Yeah," he admitted ruefully."I let my dick do the talking 

instead of my head.I'm such a fuck-up."

Une contemplated Duo's guilt in silence, unsure of what to 

say to drive away his pain and help the Shinigami retreat a little.

But she knew deep inside, that it was the Shinigami that would 

get them out of this mess.

"I'm going after her Une," growled the fierce protectiveness of 

Shinigami.She was his and he needed to protect her from this 

asshole."I'll bring her back and deal with him, don't worry 

about it."

He flipped the stack of papers he was carrying onto her desk 

and turned briskly on his heel to stride from the room."There's 

your killer."

As the aura of Shinigami faded from the room, Une stared in 

transfixed horror at the picture laying on her desk.Shaking 

hands reached out and took a hold of it.

The sound of Duo's revving motorcycle broke the deadening 

silence and Une crumpled the picture in her own hand.

"I too shall avenge you Treize," she muttered harshly, dropping 

the picture to the floor and grinding it under her foot."The 

bastard will pay for what he's done to destroy your memory and 

all you worked for.And I know just the person to help."

Une strode from the office and headed out to find help.

And on the floor of her office, the photo uncurled displaying 

its image.The image of Carver Fultz.

~~~ Assistant Director of Development's Office, Preventer HQ ~~~

Carver quickly fled the darkened office and headed for his own 

bright space.He folded his frame into his leather chair and spun 

to face the computer screen.With a few rapid clicks, he had 

connected to his home computer was busy using that to mask his 

trails.His quick moving eyes burned with focus behind the imitation 

lenses and those innocent baby blues harden to the sharp blue 

diamonds.

"Well well, well Ms. Po," he snarled softly under his breath.

"What are you up to?And how can I make sure they find you…."

His fingers flew with determination as he skillfully wove the trap 

to snare the favored mouse.A feral grin shifted across his menacing

features."Here Kitty Une…."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Again C & C madly desired!!!

Tune in next time to see what happens to our fateful pair….

Thanks for reading!

^_^

Rhina


	5. Part Four

This pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it

Title: Two Become One 5/?

Author: Rhina

Pairings: 2xS and one more – see if you can find it!

*******

WARNING: Angst and Language

*******

Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts

otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the

school board.I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the

Spice Girls either – thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to

them?!

lyrics 

~~~ scene change ~~~

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Set your spirit free, it's the only way to be   
Silly games that you were playing, empty   
Words we both were saying,   
Let's work it out boy, let's work it out boy, 

~~~ Sally's Apartment, L2 ~~~

Sally wound her braid tightly against her skull.Nimble fingers 

jammed in several pins anchoring the mass to her skull so tightly 

it nearly brought tears to her eyes.Gel combed back the remaining 

stragglers of hair, making sure not a single blonde strand remained.

Grabbing the can of spray color, Sally held her breath and sprayed 

down her hair, covering the shining blonde with the matte blackness.

It would have been easier to simply wear a hat, but the risk of losing 

said item was more than she cared to take at this time.

Making sure that any remnants of blonde were completely 

obliterated, she checked her pockets for the needed items once 

more.Her black pants and turtleneck gave her lithe form a smooth 

sexy look.She caught a glance of herself in the mirror and turned 

back to admire the form.Her musings concentrated on whether or 

not Duo might like seeing her as a black haired femme fatale 

instead?

She shook away the thoughts of the sexy man and turned to the 

task at hand.Everything seemed to be in order for her late night 

breaking and entering gig.Taking a deep fortifying breath, she 

prepared to exit the apartment and head out to find the information 

to close this case that she desperately needed.

Turning off the light in her bedroom, she headed for the door of the 

small apartment.There she grabbed the keys to her car and a coat 

that concealed the dark clothing and unusual hair color from those 

who saw her every day.She had decided to take her car and park 

near the scene as she had a way to go and it seemed a bit safer.

Besides, it made leaving that much easier.With luck, leaving would 

definitely be the easiest part and she might even get a little sleep 

tonight.She donned the coat and pulled up the hood, shading her 

face and hiding the fright in her eyes from view.

With a deep breath, she opened the door and shut it behind her, 

heading out into the unknown where the predators hunt without 

rest.

~~~ Preventer HQ, Shuttle Bay ~~~

"Look you little Pipsqueak," growled Duo, his hands clenching 

the edge of the counter instead of the collar of the pale soldier like 

he really wanted to, "I don't know or care where your orders came 

from, you get me a God damn shuttle and I want it right now."

"But Commander Une has to approve all requisitions," said the 

trembling solider.He desperately tried to remember all the correct 

procedures of what you were to do in such a situation.But he 

didn't think 'angry God of Death guy ready to snap you in two' 

had been covered in the manual.

"If you don't give me the fucking shuttle, I am sure that you won't 

need to worry about what Commander Une wants every again," 

snarled Duo."Now give me access or I'll hijack the stupid thing 

and you can explain to Commander Une about how you impeded 

the rescue mission of an officer."

Eventually the poor hapless young recruit, decided that the current 

presence of a pissed off Shinigami out-weighed the possible 

chewing out by his superior the next time he reported for duty.He 

handed over the needed access codes, once he had a somewhat 

sketchy flight plan from the violent eyed avenging angel of death.

Now all he had to do was figure out how to avoid the haranguing 

he was sure to receive from his superior in the morning….

~~~ Somewhere on L2 ~~~

So far so good was the only thought that crossed Sally's mind as 

she eased further into the building.It had been easy enough to 

enter, as her own pass allowed her access to a fair amount of 

areas.The tough part was just beginning.

Through her routine work, she had narrowed down the areas 

where vital documents must be stored.She knew there had to be 

traceable evidence, because of what she was required to enter on 

the computer after each 'operation'.Somewhere was the bit of 

data that tied those organs to their final destination.

If only she'd been as talented as Heero in the hacking business, 

she could have done this from the safety of her own home!Of 

course those things never seemed to go her way anyway.Maybe 

you just needed to be a Gundam pilot for computers to respond 

to you that way!

Stopping in front of the restricted access door that Sally had 

dubbed 'most likely to conceal incriminating evidence', she 

withdrew a small micro-computer and slid its key card into the 

access port next to the door.With a bit of scrambling, the 

computer decoded the passkey into something the door recognized. 

Looking around, Sally assured herself that she was alone, and 

quietly crept into the room, pocketing the micro-computer along 

the way.The door slid shut behind her on its silent track and 

she let loose a slow breathe as it closed completely.

The entire room was built to house a pair of computers.Both 

their monitors were on, giving the room a eerie dim green-grey 

glow that computers do.There were a couple of file cabinets and 

other storage paraphernalia on her right, but other than the desks 

the computers sat on and a single chair, the room was devoid of 

furniture.The room was also very cool.Sally supposed that it 

was for the benefit of the computers but she didn't think about it 

other than a brief instance.

If she had, perhaps the solid green light on the room's thermostat 

turning to a blinking yellow one would have concerned her.But 

then as a woman focused on a mission, it's probably not likely.

Without concern, Sally snagged the room's only chair and wheeled 

over in front of the first computer.She let the micro-computer 

help her log in, stealing an id and a password from the computer's 

own memory banks.Slipping in under the security, she began to 

search for the information she needed.

"So what can you give me," she murmured under her breath, eyes 

fixed on the screen.

And the yellow light on the thermostat began to blink even faster.

And then it shifted to red.

~~~ Heading into Orbit about Preventer HQ ~~~

Duo cursed again and pounded on the consol of the ship he had 

'commandeered'.

"Can't this piece of shit go any faster?" he cried out loud, before 

pushing ahead and coaxing maximum engine power out of the

vessel."Damn it all!Why do I always get stuck with the piece of 

junk?!"

Duo finessed a little more from the machine and skillfully pointed 

in the direction that he needed to travel.Hoping for the best, he 

wove his way through space to save Sally.He wasn't quite sure 

what kind of muscle he was up against with this race, but he certainly 

decided that some heavy duty back-up might not hurt.

"Time to call in a favor," he muttered, calling up the communications 

link and punch in a series of digits.

An electronic recorded voice came on the line and Duo

responded with the password which brought him face to face, 

via vid screen with he man he was looking for.

"Nice to see you again Heero."

~~~ Mainframe room, Somewhere on L2 ~~~

Sally worked as fast as her fingers could fly across the keyboard.

She coaxed and shouted harsh commands at the terminal screen, 

searching through endless files and documents looking for the 

information she needed to nail these jerks where it hurt.As fast 

as she was having to read, everything seemed like gibberish so 

far.The names and numbers meant absolutely nothing to her at 

this moment.

"Where is it?" she muttered under her breath, her whole being 

focused on what was scrolling across the screen.

~~~ Elsewhere on L2 ~~~

Ty rolled his chair carelessly across the floor to the beeping 

monitor on the other side of the room.He idly noted that the 

sensors were detecting a major heat increase in the mainframe 

room.With bored curiosity, he rolled back to his main terminal 

and tapped into the surveillance equipment for that room.

"Well, well well," he smirked to himself."What have we got 

here?"

His fingers skimmed across the keyboard, allowing him to view 

what the former blonde bombshell was seeing on the screen.

"Searching for something are we Ms. Schwartz?" he questioned 

the image from the security camera."Let's just make sure that 

you find something, shall we?"

Smoothly, Ty flipped back his long red hair and grabbed the 

headset from beside his terminal.With a quick motion and a tap 

of a key, he was connected with the person he was looking for.

"Hey boss man," he crooned into the phone at the snarling voice 

on the other end of the line."I've caught a nice mouse for you.

Perhaps you'd better take it from the trap before she runs away."

~~~ En route to L2 ~~~

"Look Heero," continued Duo as he reset the course of the shuttle 

once more, aiming for a part of L2 that would be a little more 

likely to house the characters that Sally was looking for, "I need 

some back up here.I'm heading in there blind and I'd like

someone covering my ass that I trust."

Heero sighed."What makes you think that I would be so willing to 

do something like that?"

Duo began to tick the reasons off on his fingers."Because you're 

my best bud, I loaned you pieces for your Gundam during the war…"

"Only because I took them with force," corrected Heero with a small 

smirk."You never would have parted with them willingly."

"How do you know that unless you asked, which you didn't," 

snorted Duo in return, finding one final point to win his case 

against the brown haired man across the vid screen from him.

"Besides, if you don't help with this, I'll tell Relena what you 

were really doing the night before your wedding."

On the vid screen, Heero sighed and rubbed a long limbered hand 

through his ragged brown hair."You win Duo," he said with some 

reluctance. "If anything happens to me, you get to deal with 

Relena."

"Done," agreed Duo readily, not about to admit to anything close 

to defeat with this case."I'm going to need those infamous 

hacking abilities for this one."

Across the screen, Duo watched as Heero pulled out a battered 

pad of paper and a pen and began to take notes as the pair 

planned their strategy and where to meet.

Feeling pleased that Heero would be able to aid him, Duo 

concentrated on strategy and urging the shuttle toward Sally 

faster.There was no chance for a wrong move this time, for he 

had to save her.

~~~ Chang Residence, Near Preventer HQ ~~~

Une pounded on Wufei's door, knocking loudly several times 

before ringing the doorbell.She gave no thought to the noise 

waking the people in the neighboring apartments.She simply 

needed Wufei and she needed him right now.

Blearily, Wufei came to realize that the pounding sound that he 

heard wasn't in his dreams, but at his front door.Stumbling only 

slightly, he rose swiftly and climbed from the bed, pushing his 

hair away from his face in a sleepy gesture.He shook his head 

to clear away the remnants of sleepy cobwebs that clung and made 

his way through the small apartment space to the door.

Checking through the small antique peephole that was provided, 

he immediately spied Une and flew through the opening of the 

locks.If it was urgent enough to bring Une to his doorstep at 

this time of night, he'd better make sure he got to her quickly.

Pulling open the door, he quickly grasped some of the situation.

Une's face was sober and the lines of worry seemed even deeper 

etched this evening.But it was her eyes that caught and held his 

gaze.They burned with a red hot anger that he had never seen 

from her before.The fires behind that gaze no longer simmered 

but blazed with their full fury as Wufei urged her to come inside.

He escorted her over to the couch to try and convince her to 

sit and speak to him, but the energy within her would have 

nothing to do with sitting still.He watched the brunette pace 

in front of him as he admired her lithe form.Her slenderness 

had aged gracefully, giving way to more of the round feminine 

curves her form had held the promise for.Her long legs were 

deliciously displayed by the knee length skirt that she was 

wearing and he admired the smoothness of that bared skin.Her 

tailored jacket was open and her blouse unbuttoned to bare the 

creamy expanse of her neck.Wufei smiled secretly to himself.

He loved it when she was passionate about something.She had 

a slight wild side then and he loved every moment of it, no 

matter the reason that had brought it on.He sensed from her 

agitated movements and the tight grasp she had on the paper in 

her hand that this time it was something a little more serious 

that had brought our her wild side.

Une paused before beginning her tirade.She knew that she 

needed to calm down before she absolutely blew a fuse over 

this latest development.She stopped her pacing and turned to 

face Wufei.The Chinese man was sitting on the edge of the 

sofa watching her carefully.His deep brown eyes held the 

edges of sleep and his sleek hair tumbled along his cheeks.

Smooth golden skin was bared above silky black pajama 

bottoms that begged for Une to touch them.

Reigning in her desire, Une remembered why she had come to 

Wufei with this problem rather than anyone else.For as long 

as he had been a member of the Preventer organization, Wufei 

had been a kind of confidante.She couldn't even remember 

how it all started, but she relied on him now more than anyone 

else.He understood her need to uphold Treize's beliefs and 

urged her to keep those memories.His sense of justice and 

honesty, brought them together to forge those dreams into 

reality.She knew he would be just as angry at the thought of 

some selfish bastard threatening those hopes and dreams.

"We found the bastard Wufei," she said with more calmness 

than she felt inside.The heady mixture of the need to cream 

this guy into the ground combined with the intensity of her 

sudden feelings for Wufei.

Wufei immediately was far more alert, snapping black eyes 

became fueled with the same fire hers had.A hand ran threw 

his silky hair and brushed it back off his cheeks.His other 

hand reached out and dragged Une down onto the couch 

beside him."Who found him?"

"Duo," sighed Une, handing over the papers she had been 

tightly clenching."He figured it out, but only after he let slip 

where Sally was."

"Shit," cursed Wufei as he read through the papers.Duo's 

findings had been thorough.The bastard had been quite busy 

with the time he had worked within the Preventer organization.

The only thing truly missing was a motive, but Wufei could 

have cared less about something like that when the entire 

Preventer Organization was on the line.

"I don't know why he did all this," whispered Une, leaning 

against Wufei as if somehow looking for support that she 

desperately needed right now."I just know I want him dead.

I want him stripped of his rank and privileges and dead.I 

don't care how or why."

Wufei laid a hand on Une's shoulder then, wrapping the arm 

around her and drawing her close to him."We'll get him Une.

He won't get away with this shit any more."

"And poor Sally," whispered Une, concern for her friend sparkling 

within her eyes, flickering through the fire in them.

"Damn," cursed Wufei again, his own anger at the man who 

threatened his friend causing him to crush the papers in his hand 

as Une had before him."What do we do about getting her out of 

there?"

Une shook her head, negating the need to do anything."Duo's 

on his way."

Wufei sighed with some relief, a brief smile flitting across his 

features."That's the way it should be.You and I can take care 

of this guy," commented Wufei carefully.They shared a 

conspirator's smile then, both knowing that the other wanted Duo 

and Sally to come together.

Wufei tapped the papers against his chin, dismissing the romantic 

entangles of his friends."I think we'll need some help though," 

he added, thinking quickly.

"Who?" asked Une with curiosity.

"Well," smiled Wufei, "I think the circus is in town, isn't it?"

Une laughed then, leaning against the Chinese man, relief that 

he was in charge flowing through her as he gathered her into 

his arms.

And together they laid a trap to catch a rat as a ghost stood behind 

them and smiled with pleasure.

~~~ Somewhere on L2 ~~~

Without even an ounce of concern that someone might know of 

her presence, Sally continued her search deep within the files.

Her scans and brief foray so far had revealed very little that would 

aid her case.

"Damn it!Where is it?" she growled under her voice, glowering 

at the computer terminal.

"Can I help you find something Ms. Schwartz?" drawled the calm 

voice of the director from behind her.

Slowly Sally turned around on the chair and faced the director.

Dressed in a dull matte black silk bathrobe and pajamas, he should 

have looked feminine and weak.But his imposing manner, made 

his outfit recede into the background.The only thing she could 

see was the definite sneer on his face and how menacing those

guards looked in the room's dim greenish light.

"Not that I know of sir," commented Sally with some resignation, 

surrendering the portable computer to the men who came over to 

collect her.

"Perhaps not, but we shall see in the morning," he said, gesturing 

to the men to lead her away."Maybe the light of day will jog your 

memory."

"Where would you like her sir?" asked the commander of his 

squad of guards.

"Take her to one of the holding cells," he commanded, meeting the 

blue eyes of Sally's gaze."Regardless of what she was looking for, 

'Ms. Schwartz' will have patients tomorrow."

Sally narrowed her gaze and regarded him coolly as his hand 

reached out and stroked a rough finger across delicate skin.

"You see, Ms. Schwartz, I can't afford to lose your skills for a day 

so you'll either operate as scheduled tomorrow or you'll find yourself 

on the table in place of those donors," he said coldly.His eyes were 

dark pools of menace and his smirk grew far enough to send shivers 

down Sally's back.

Sally drew away her gaze and forced her feet to move as the 

guards dragged her out of the room after handing her micro-

computer over to the boss.The large dark clad man then handed 

the device over to the red haired man who had been in the shadows 

behind him.

"See what it has Ty and use it to nail her," he commanded and 

strode from the room.

With a sadistic grin, Ty fondled the device and then slipped from 

the room to return to his own lair.

The guards then led her through a maze of corridors and down an 

elevator to nearly the basement of the complex.Without ceremony, 

they deposited her in a cell and electronically locked the door.

Sally slid down against the wall when she was sure the way out 

was completely sealed and leaned her head back and stared at the 

ceiling.Her soft sighed echoed in the empty space as she knew

she was in deeper shit than she ever imaged.

Funny thing then that her only thought was why Duo wasn't here 

to get her out of this one.

~~~ Nearing L2 ~~~

"Hold on Sally," whispered Duo, maneuvering the shuttle into to

enter orbit of the L2 colony."I'm coming."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thanks for reading and all C&C is appreciated!

^_^

Rhina


	6. Part Five

This pairing was a challenge issued by a friend who thought it  
  
would be an interesting combination. Action this time around.  
  
First time I have ever written an action (read PLOT) orientated  
  
fic so we shall see how this goes!  
  
Title: Two Become One 5/?  
  
Author: Rhina  
  
Pairings: 2xS and 5x11  
  
*******  
  
WARNING: Angst and Language  
  
*******  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts  
  
otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the  
  
school board. I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the  
  
Spice Girls either - thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to  
  
them?!  
  
lyrics   
  
~~~ scene change ~~~  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Any deal that we endeavour,  
  
Boys and girls feel good together  
  
Take it or leave it,  
  
Take it or leave it   
  
~~~ A Holding Cell, L2 ~~~  
  
Sally slid down the wall in her tiny cell, sitting gracelessly on  
  
the floor. Her body ached all over and she barely even saw the  
  
minimalist cot they had provided her with to sleep on tonight.  
  
She flexed her tired fingers; grateful in some part for the aches  
  
and pains that reminded her she was still among the living and  
  
not one of those tragic corpses that she had operated on during  
  
the day.  
  
A wave of depression and hopelessness washed over her as she  
  
looked at her hands. She idly wondered if she'd ever be able to  
  
remove the stains of blood that would linger there, reminders of  
  
all the people she had killed during this mission. And yet she  
  
couldn't avenge a single one of them, not stuck in this tiny hellhole  
  
of her own making.  
  
And she couldn't count on Une getting her out of this one either.  
  
Une had enough on her plate without concerning herself over  
  
Sally's predicament. Not that she had any way to let Une know  
  
what kind of shit she was in anyway. She'd been without contact  
  
on this mission thus far; so continued silence would not alarm Une  
  
in any way.  
  
Closing her eyes to forget about the horror that surrounded her,  
  
Sally willed her mind to turn toward the problem of escape. She  
  
needed to get the fuck out of here before they made sure her leave  
  
of this colony was permanent.  
  
~~~ Change Residence, Near Preventer HQ ~~~  
  
"So," said Wufei, coming back into the room after having changed  
  
into more comfortable clothing. "How do you think we should  
  
nail this guy?"  
  
"Well, I don't know about a direct confrontation," murmured Une,  
  
thinking out loud more than really stating a possible course of action.  
  
Wufei immediately shook his head at that suggestion whether  
  
it was serious or not. "Sounds like a good way to end up in an  
  
all out shoot out. Something I'd personally like to avoid."  
  
Une nodded in agreement. She didn't want to put anyone else in  
  
this guy's line of fire than she already had. Her quick mind  
  
analyzed the problem over and over, searching out a new way to  
  
lay a trap for their nemesis. She wanted this idiot out of her  
  
organization and ground firmly into the dust. There would be no  
  
recriminations from this one. Once gone, she'd make sure he  
  
stayed that way.  
  
While Une contemplated the course of action, Wufei stood and  
  
moved to place a quiet phone call. The murmurs of his voice  
  
didn't even register with Une who was buried deep within her  
  
own thoughts of planned justice.  
  
Turning back from the vid phone, Wufei regarded the lady  
  
sitting on his couch. At some point, she has removed her jacket,  
  
baring the thinness of the dress shirt she wore underneath. The  
  
loss of the jacket brought the feminine curves he admired into  
  
view. Her brown hair lay tousled along her head and clung to  
  
delicate cheekbones. Her brow was furrowed with worry as  
  
thoughts piled themselves one on top of the other. Somewhere  
  
along the line, she'd accidentally swiped the pen along the side  
  
of her face and it gave her a decidedly touchable appearance.  
  
Withdrawing from the turn his thoughts were rapidly taking,  
  
Wufei pulled himself back to the issue that demanded his attention.  
  
He moved back to sit in the chair that was kitty corner from  
  
Une's position on the couch. Carefully he reached out and rubbed  
  
the ink mark from her cheek in a comforting gesture as his mind  
  
began to unfold an idea to capture the rat in their midst.  
  
Une's deep brown eyes softened as she turned her gaze to  
  
Wufei, looking into his deep eyes and letting his touch bring  
  
her back to reality. She never quite understood what it was about  
  
this Chinese man that seemed to be able to bring peace to her  
  
soul no matter what was going on around her. He touched  
  
something inside of her; an echo of what Treize had brought out  
  
in her life. Some days she feared she'd never be able to be  
  
without Wufei again and she was unsure of how he would react to  
  
that kind of weakness. But it was as if some silent agreement had  
  
been reached that they never spoke of the feelings that churned  
  
within them.  
  
"I think I have an idea," said Wufei as he carefully withdrew  
  
his hand, the skin of his fingers burning gently at having  
  
touched Une's fire.  
  
"What is it?" asked Une, anxious to know, her hand coming up  
  
to cover her cheek, now left bereft by the absence of Wufei's  
  
touch.  
  
"We use some very attractive bait to lure him to us," stated Wufei,  
  
his calm voice belying the churning of his emotions.  
  
"Bait?" queried Une, some how sensing that she was not going to  
  
like the answer. "What kind of bait?"  
  
"Me," announced Wufei.  
  
His solid gaze locked with hers and the war between two  
  
determined individuals was on.  
  
~~~ Nearing L2 ~~~  
  
Regaining manual control over the shuttle, Duo guided the  
  
machine into the landing area he wished to use. He planned  
  
to land near an area where he had some old friends roaming  
  
about. He'd made friends with them at the very beginning of  
  
his scrapping days and would definitely be calling in a few  
  
favors from them.  
  
These weren't the type of people he normally called his friends,  
  
but sometimes you had to look for help in unusual places.  
  
Back when he had first been starting up, these less than pristine  
  
customers had helped him find great scrap and arrange a couple  
  
of very lucrative deals. He had moved out of the slightly  
  
shady area as soon as he could, but he'd kept contact with one  
  
or two of the guys because you never knew when such  
  
contacts could come in handy.  
  
And now he would ask for some friendly help from these  
  
people. He was sure they could help him blend in with the low  
  
areas where he was headed. They should be able to provide  
  
some cover for himself and Heero. And best of all he was  
  
sure they could lead him to the jerk whom Sally was after.  
  
Duo was pretty sure that Carver hadn't tipped off the  
  
organization Sally was aiming for yet. He knew they wouldn't  
  
be aware that Sally was working undercover. But that  
  
organization was Duo's best bet for finding Sally. And hopefully  
  
he could get her out of there while Heero hacked the  
  
information they needed to nail the organization and while  
  
Wufei and Une tied up Carver before he could share Sally's  
  
identity with the _other_ bad guys, killing three birds with one  
  
stone.  
  
But, thought Duo as he touched down the craft, the best laid  
  
plans of mice and men gang aft agley.  
  
~~~ Change Residence, Near Preventer HQ ~~~  
  
Wufei's dark gaze challenged Une's own brown-eyed  
  
determination. Their feelings of protectiveness and compassion  
  
for the other overwhelmed their senses. Neither wanted the  
  
other to get hurt and so they stood on opposite sides of the issue  
  
on what to do about Carver Fultz.  
  
"I still say that exposing my role as a Gundam pilot matched  
  
with the fact that I am a Preventer Officer will bring him to us,"  
  
stated Wufei as he urgently tried to convince Une to see things  
  
his way. "What could possibly be a more enticing kill?"  
  
"I don't want you in harm's way for no reason," cried Une, her  
  
agitation at the idea driving her to pace across the room her long  
  
legs quickly out stripping the confines of the space. "Besides,  
  
we don't have any clue why this jerk is harming the Preventers  
  
in the first place! It might have nothing to do with the Gundams!"  
  
Wufei smiled slightly as Une's agitation ate up the small space.  
  
He never would have thought that such a suggestion would bring  
  
out this kind of reaction in her. Maybe there was something  
  
going on here that he didn't know about, but now was not the  
  
time to investigate such things. Catch the jerk first and then  
  
there would be time enough to explore.  
  
"Une," said Wufei softly. "Sit down. I want you to think about  
  
what you know about this man first and then let's come to a  
  
conclusion from there."  
  
Raking her fingers through her tangled brunette locks, Une flopped  
  
down onto the couch near Wufei. Her brown eyes showed the  
  
determination to not only not give in to him on this issue, but to  
  
also win him over to her side.  
  
"What do you know about Carver?" prompted Wufei, leaning  
  
back in his chair, a hand pushing silky black strands of hair off  
  
his cheek.  
  
"Well," began Une as she sunk into her memories. "He was  
  
there with me and Treize from nearly the beginning. When we  
  
began to recruit, he was one of Treize's first few selections  
  
because of the abilities and intelligence that he showed. We  
  
thought he would be a great addition to the core of OZ soldiers  
  
that we were building."  
  
Quietly Wufei stood then and began to make some tea, letting her  
  
words continue to roll through his mind. His sense of strategy and  
  
intelligence helped him combine the seemingly shiny Preventer  
  
dossier on the man with the words that Une spoke, forming a  
  
more solid picture of the rat that they needed to catch.  
  
"He was always there," remembered Une, recalling memories  
  
from days she often tried to forget. Despite the longing she  
  
sometimes felt when remembering times with Treize, the craziness  
  
of OZ was something she was glad to have left behind. "Kind of  
  
like waiting in the wings."  
  
"Anything special or significant about him?" queried Wufei,  
  
handing her a steaming cup of soothing tea, cradling his own  
  
in a hand that embodied the elegant yet strong parts of his  
  
personality.  
  
Une shook her head. "Nothing that I can recall, but then he  
  
seemed to have a tendency to be a part of the background  
  
more than standing out."  
  
Nodding with understanding, Wufei continued to puzzle out the  
  
best way capture the man.  
  
With hands wrapped around the cup of steaming tea, Une bowed  
  
her head and continued to think. A myriad of thoughts and  
  
events from those times flicked through her mind, but nothing  
  
brought to light the one clue that they needed to spring a trap on  
  
Carver. No matter how much she wanted him dead for what he  
  
had done to her Preventers, there didn't seem to be a way to pay  
  
him back.  
  
~~~ On L2 ~~~  
  
Once he landed, Duo quickly exited the craft, shedding his  
  
Preventer jacket along the way. With stealthy reflexes honed  
  
by years as a Gundam pilot and a street rat, he headed toward  
  
the business location of the friends he would use for contact in  
  
this area. Once there he changed clothes and gained a bit of  
  
relevant information.  
  
Now he had a name, not to mention a face, to put with the head  
  
of the organization. None of them had heard rumors of a  
  
Preventer at work, but with the size of his organization that was  
  
not to be unexpected. On the other hand, Sally, the tall elegant  
  
blonde that Duo described, had been spotted. They knew the  
  
location of her apartment and he would start his search for her  
  
there. But Martin Fraser was the man who was running the  
  
organization Duo was looking for. From the sound of things,  
  
there were more than a few who would be happy to see him and  
  
his butchering operation take a hike.  
  
Pleased to know that local support was on his side, Duo found  
  
a location near the supposed headquarters of the Fraser  
  
operation to use as a base sight. He placed another secured call  
  
to Heero to get the ball rolling and arrange a meeting.  
  
Given the name and location of who they were up against, Heero  
  
immediately went to work at gathering the needed data to take  
  
him on while Duo set out on a little shopping excursion of his  
  
own, stopping to check on Sally's apartment on the way.  
  
~~~ A Holding Cell, L2 ~~~  
  
It had been another wearying day in the operating room. Sally  
  
sighed and ran a hand threw her tangled locks, which still  
  
retained some of the hideous black she had sprayed on it. The  
  
confines of the cell were driving her slowly insane. She'd played  
  
with and tampered everything she could in the cell that was or  
  
looked even remotely electronic. The only thing she could get  
  
out of it is that this cell had definitely been made to keep people  
  
in confinement indefinitely. There was nothing jury-rigged  
  
about this place which meant that he'd been able to build  
  
something very confining, with few chances to make her own  
  
escape.  
  
She'd tried a couple of things during the day today, but she  
  
was too closely watched by the guards to pull any kind of shit.  
  
And she'd tried every form that she could think of! At least  
  
the people surrounding her other than the guards were reasonably  
  
sympathetic to her.  
  
Damn it all! She had to think of some way out of this!  
  
Scowling at the wall, Sally slumped down on the bunk to put  
  
her brain to the test of finding a way out.  
  
~~~ Martin Fraser's Office L2 ~~~  
  
"Well Ty?" asked Mr. Fraser, the operations director, as he  
  
turned around from the examination of the fish tank behind  
  
his desk. "Did you find out anything more about our mystery  
  
guest?"  
  
Ty lazily shook his head, tossing the paperweight he had taken  
  
from his boss's desk from hand to hand. His casually indifferent  
  
pose had his feet draped over the side of the chair he was  
  
lounging in as he continued to juggle the heavy object.  
  
"Why not?" questioned the dark haired man, peering intensely  
  
over the edge of his glasses at the youth seated in front of him.  
  
Mr. Fraser was not used to waiting. He needed information on  
  
this young lady so that after he killed her, he could take care of  
  
those who had sent her here.  
  
"Well," drawled Ty, snatching the paperweight out of mid-air  
  
and settling it with a thunk on top of the desk, "It's hard to trace  
  
someone's origins when all you've got is a nice false name and  
  
records and a bloody picture. You remember that old line about  
  
the needle in the haystack."  
  
Mr. Fraser growled at his subordinate and reached out for the  
  
paperweight, holding it in his own solid grip. "Then I suggest  
  
you get back and starting trying a little harder."  
  
"Yeah man," shrugged Ty. "I should go back and do that. I  
  
think I might have a contact who can help me."  
  
"You make sure you have some results the next time you waltz  
  
into this office," frowned Fraser. The necessity of such people  
  
was definitely obvious to him, but that didn't mean he would  
  
tolerate insubordination.  
  
With a look of 'yeah whatever' pasted on his features, Ty  
  
bonelessly slid from his seat and made his way out of the room.  
  
The crazy old man didn't scare him in the least, but he did  
  
enjoy his work so maybe it paid not to antagonize him too much.  
  
Still seething at the inability to find out anything about the  
  
elusive 'Ms. Schwartz' or who she worked for, Martin Fraser  
  
turned back to face the aquarium. The crack of the shattering  
  
of the heavy paperweight was the only noise in the room.  
  
~~~ Change Residence, Near Preventer HQ ~~~  
  
A knock interrupted the deep thoughts of both Wufei and Une.  
  
Wufei smiled softly to himself as he realized who must have  
  
been knocking at the door while Une merely looked puzzled.  
  
On silent feet, Wufei stood and moved across to open the  
  
door. Pulling it open, he smiled, almost warmly at the young  
  
man on the other side. He offered his hand in a gesture  
  
of respect he knew the other would understand.  
  
"Trowa," said Wufei, clasping his friend's hand in a strong  
  
grip.  
  
"Wufei," answered Trowa, meeting Trowa's firm grip with  
  
one of his own. "I was pleased to hear from you. I had been  
  
hoping to convince you and Sally to come and see Catherine  
  
and myself while we were in town."  
  
"I'm sure that Sally would have loved to come if she was in  
  
town," commented Wufei, closing the door behind his guest.  
  
"But there's more than just a simple chance to get together as  
  
the reason for my call."  
  
Trowa nodded in response, his eyes taking in Une's tired  
  
presence. He offered a hand to her in turn, clasping her slender  
  
hand warmly and smiling a gentle smile at her. "I can sense  
  
that. It is good to see you again Une."  
  
Wufei gestured for Trowa to have a seat and the tall lanky  
  
brunette lowered his form to the chair next to the couch. He  
  
crossed his jean-clad legs at the ankles and laid long elegant  
  
hands on his knees. His one green eye peered at Une and then  
  
Wufei with interest. "So what can I do for you?"  
  
"Help us catch a rat," stated Wufei. And together he and Une  
  
launched into a discussion of the Preventer troubles.  
  
~~~ Carver Fultz's Residence, Near Preventer HQ ~~~  
  
"I'll get that bitch yet," swore Carver deep under his breath  
  
as he paced in front of his open computer terminal.  
  
"Thinking she can hide Sally away from my reach."  
  
He pounded a fist into his hand and turned swiftly on his heel.  
  
His thin hair was tousled across his features and his glass had  
  
been tossed aside. The neck of his shirt was askew and the  
  
bottom was untucked from his overly creased pants. He  
  
looked like he'd never seen the correct side of the iron though  
  
the back had certainly connected with his head, giving him  
  
that very unbecoming hair do and dazed look. A seeming  
  
lack of sleep and the inability to find his razor made him look  
  
like a complete rouge of the worst kind.  
  
And of course that's exactly what he was.  
  
He stopped his pacing and faced the large framed picture of  
  
Treize from when OZ was at its height. The general was in  
  
full formal dress, obviously posing for some sort of  
  
Romenfeller promotion. The picture had cut out the rest of the  
  
command squad that had been pictured with Treize, leaving  
  
only Carver behind.  
  
"I should have been the one you turned to," he snarled. "She  
  
had nothing that I didn't, except a good fuck when you needed  
  
it. I was the one who always believed. She was just some  
  
chick who dared to interfere."  
  
With a wicked ironic smile, he saluted the man he had once  
  
served with honor. "I'll get that bitch you promoted over me  
  
over and over and all her little favorite ones, see if I don't.  
  
sir."  
  
A beep then alerted to him to an incoming message from  
  
someone. His search had uncovered something very very  
  
interesting. "So that's where Ms. Po ran off to. And you don't  
  
know who she is. Well, well, I think I can certainly be of  
  
some assistance."  
  
Composing a reply, Carver smiled sinisterly to himself in the  
  
eerie glow of the monitor's light.  
  
~~~ A Rundown apartment, L2 ~~~  
  
"Duo you pick the worst goddamn hiding places," complained  
  
Heero as he entered through the door that Duo politely opened  
  
at his knock. "This place is a pile of shit waiting to topple!"  
  
Duo laughed at Heero's unusual vehemence. For the man to  
  
swear like that, it must be pretty bad. Shaking his head at  
  
Heero, Duo closed the door and redid the security locks.  
  
"Looks are deceiving Heero," was Duo's only comment.  
  
"You should know that as well as me."  
  
"Hn," said Heero, throwing his bag on the bed and pulling out  
  
his laptop. "I'll refrain from further comments if you tell me  
  
this room has a dataport."  
  
Duo pointed out the location for Heero to plug in his laptop.  
  
"Secured even, you are a lucky boy Heero-babe!"  
  
Snorting at the name, Heero plugged in the computer and set  
  
it booting up. "So what the hell are we doing here Duo?"  
  
Blowing his bangs out of his eyes, Duo laid back on the bed,  
  
folding his arms behind his head. "Well, it all began because  
  
of a vindictive little weasel and a blonde like you've never  
  
seen."  
  
Merely raising an eyebrow, Heero listened without comment,  
  
merely linking the computer to the information he had gathered  
  
on their enemy from earlier, listening with half an ear as Duo  
  
fleshed out the story he had told earlier. The other eyebrow  
  
rose when Duo began to talk about Sally. He recognized a  
  
tone he had never heard in Duo's voice before. There was  
  
something more between his friend and the Preventer agent  
  
they were to rescue. Something that made this more urgent  
  
for him then anything they'd done before. Smiling to himself,  
  
Heero was reminded of the feelings that had flowed through  
  
him when he had realized that Mariemaya's army had kidnapped  
  
Relena. He only hoped Duo acknowledged his own feelings  
  
sooner than he had dealt with his.  
  
"So that's pretty much it in a nutshell," concluded Duo, his  
  
eyes still glazed, looking at a face he could only see in his mind.  
  
A fist tightened its grip on the bed's cover, twisting it all out  
  
of proportion as he contemplated what he would do to those  
  
jerks if they even laid a hand on Sally that was out of line. "I've  
  
checked out the place that she should have been staying at,  
  
according to the guys around here, and no one's been there in  
  
awhile, other than the guys who ransacked it."  
  
Heero nodded in understanding. It was now definite that Sally  
  
had been captured by this shading character and was retained  
  
by his organization.  
  
"I doubt they found anything though," added Duo. "Sally was  
  
pretty thorough when she went undercover according to Une."  
  
Contemplating this, Heero considered the information on Martin  
  
Fraser and his organization that he had up on the screen. "Well,  
  
then, considering who this guy is and what I've discovered,  
  
he's still holding her somewhere on his complex."  
  
Turning the screen so that Duo could see, he began relaying  
  
the information condensed down to what they needed to know.  
  
"The man's a vindictive one. He'll want to know whom Sally  
  
works for and why she's there before he does away with her.  
  
Then he'll wreak revenge against the people who sent her after  
  
she's dead and quite out of the way. He has a long memory and  
  
never let's a chance to hold a grudge pass him by."  
  
Grinding his teeth slightly, Duo nodded. This all meshed with  
  
the information he had gathered from street contacts. The guy  
  
was ruthless and you never contemplated crossing him in a  
  
business dealing unless you liked being spaced. Force seemed  
  
to be the only thing he responded to, but around here there wasn't  
  
enough of that to drive this guy out of here. Too many had  
  
tried before and died horribly for anyone to be willing to risk it.  
  
"If we get her," continued Heero.  
  
"We'll get here," ground out Duo. "Failure is not an option with  
  
this one."  
  
Heero nodded at the confirmation of his thoughts about Duo's  
  
feelings for Sally. "When we get her, we're going to need to  
  
make sure and take him out for a safe exit. Without him, the  
  
organization should scatter like dust in the wind."  
  
"Right," agreed Duo, squeezing the comforter and twisting it  
  
again, anxious to get his hands on the slimeball.  
  
"Chances are that Sally's being held in a fairly secured cell,"  
  
continued Heero, speaking in a monotone as much as possible.  
  
"The facilities that his organization houses were built by the  
  
government before the war as extra housing for prisoners and  
  
a fighting force base on the upper levels. Somehow after the  
  
war, several shady politicians were convinced to 'sell' the  
  
place to Fraser."  
  
Duo looked over at the computer and read the schematics of  
  
the place as easily as Heero. "Shit."  
  
"Exactly," said Heero with a nod. "But I think there's a good  
  
course of action if you look at this."  
  
And together the men plotted their hostile take over well into  
  
the night.  
  
~~~ Change Residence, Near Preventer HQ ~~~  
  
"So you can see what we're up against, right Trowa?" asked  
  
Une, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees  
  
while her chin slid down to her folded hands.  
  
Trowa nodded slowly. His long jean clad legs were stretched  
  
out in front of him and crossed at the legs. His clasped hands  
  
were tucked behind his head and he titled his head back to  
  
contemplate the ceiling for a moment. With slow graceful  
  
movements, he sat up and stared at the pair anxiously awaiting  
  
his response. "I know this isn't what you want to hear Une,  
  
but I think Wufei is the best bait for this guy."  
  
Une sighed and slumped down resignedly. Her eyes focused  
  
on Wufei who was in turn watching her closely. His deep  
  
brown eyes were soft and full of liquid concern. With a nod,  
  
Une communicated her consent to the idea of using Wufei to  
  
lure out Carver. "I agree."  
  
Trowa and Wufei shared a moment of silent communication,  
  
Trowa nodding his understanding that Wufei did not want Une  
  
to suffer more than necessary through the planning of this.  
  
"I think the best idea is for you to provide the information  
  
about Wufei to him though Une. My guess is that if he knows  
  
the person has such a rich background and is important to you,  
  
that will make the target more appealing."  
  
"Now wait a minute," injected Wufei. "I didn't think we  
  
needed to involve Une like this! I don't want her in his way or  
  
with a chance of getting hurt!"  
  
Une glared at Wufei. "I'm quite capable of taking care of  
  
myself, thank you very much."  
  
Wufei sniffed with some measure of disdain. "It is my job to  
  
protect you onna."  
  
With a scowl, Une reached toward Wufei, intent on some form  
  
of bodily harm, but Trowa's voice halted her before injury to  
  
the Chinese man could occur.  
  
"I'll be with Une," said Trowa to reassure Wufei. "Just as I  
  
will then tail him to where he will meet Wufei. I don't want  
  
either of you alone with this guy. He's got some kind of  
  
vendetta happening and neither of you should be without  
  
backup, especially considering the information that we are going  
  
to be imparting to this man."  
  
Slowly Wufei and Une looked at one another and then nodded  
  
their agreement with Trowa's statement of how things should  
  
occur. "So what do you have in mind then," asked Wufei,  
  
curious to see how Trowa's thought patterns played out. He  
  
must have been taking strategy lessons from Quatre or there  
  
was more than met the eye about Trowa.  
  
"Well," drawled Trowa slowly, pulling a pen and a piece of paper  
  
across to him. "I kind of see it playing out like this."  
  
And the three worked on the plan until it was solid and seamless,  
  
leaving no room for error.  
  
~~~ Fraser Operations, L2 ~~~  
  
Answering the urgent summons of his electronic mail program,  
  
Ty whirled around to face the computer. His fingers flew  
  
across the computer and his eyes widen as he read the  
  
information provided. Without a comment or any other change  
  
of expression, he printed out the information and exited the  
  
room with it in hand.  
  
Wordlessly, he slipped into his boss's office and presented  
  
the piece of paper. "Thought you might find this some  
  
interesting reading."  
  
Martin Fraser read the necessary lines and crumpled the paper  
  
up in his hand. "Bitch. Bring her here."  
  
An assorted flunky immediately headed off as Ty waved  
  
himself out of the room.  
  
Mr. Fraser rolled his chair around to face the giant aquarium  
  
behind his desk, watching the quiet motions of the shark in the  
  
tank as his snarled whisper slipped through the room. "You've  
  
reached the end of the road. Ms Sally Po."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
I have no idea where all of this is coming from!  
  
But I promise - next time - lots of action! Thins happen, places  
  
explode and more than one little fight!  
  
Thanks for reading - as always C&C appreciated!  
  
^_^  
  
Rhina 


	7. Part Six

OooO A Very long chapter! I blame it all on Orla-chan who  
  
gave me the idea of what to write..  
  
Title: Two Become One 7/?  
  
Author: Rhina  
  
Pairings: 2xS and 5x11  
  
*******  
  
WARNING: Angst and Language  
  
*******  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the GW boys or their female counterparts  
  
otherwise I'd be retiring instead of dealing with the likes of the  
  
school board. I don't own the song "Two Become One" by the  
  
Spice Girls either - thank goodness, who'd want to lay claim to  
  
them?!  
  
lyrics   
  
~~~ scene change ~~~  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Are you as good as I remember baby, get it on, get it on,  
  
'Cause tonight is the night when two become one  
  
I need some love like I've never needed love before  
  
(wanna make love to ya baby)   
  
~~~ Martin Fraser's Office, L2 ~~~  
  
Mr. Fraser rolled his chair around to face the giant aquarium behind  
  
his desk, watching the quiet motions of the shark in the tank as his  
  
snarled whisper slipped through the room. "You've reached the end  
  
of the road. Ms. Sally Po."  
  
His smiled was a horrid thing to behold as he contemplated the fate  
  
of Ms. Po. Her life now lay in his hands and he was determined to  
  
make good use of it. He would find out not only why she had come  
  
to invade his little establishment, but also gain the knowledge that  
  
would allow him to take over the Preventers and use them for his  
  
own purposes. There was nothing quite like having your own private  
  
army in your back pocket.  
  
There was a sharp rap at the door and it swung inward. Mr. Fraser  
  
turned his chair in that direction before standing and moving around  
  
the desk to watch the prisoner and her escort come into the room. He  
  
would have his revenge and crush her life. Things were definitely  
  
looking up for him today.  
  
Sally stalked into the room. Her arms were bound in front of her  
  
in a pair of linked handcuffs. Her blue eyes flashed and burned with  
  
anger and resentment and her blonde hair, still streaked with shades  
  
of black, tumbled loose from her braids and clung to the side of her  
  
face. The dark clothing she wore from the night she attempted to  
  
secretly enter this place was stained and disshelved, giving her a very  
  
weary and tired appearance. The blaze of a true fighter radiated off of  
  
her though and Mr. Fraser knew it would not be an easy task to break  
  
her. Three men surrounded her. Two, both in simple black uniforms  
  
of a low ranking person in the Fraser Organization, were holding onto  
  
her arms while the third, this one in a deep red uniform with slicked  
  
back black hair and a sneer upon his lips, led the way into the office.  
  
All of them had the tough looks of fighters who meant business and  
  
breaking her was their business for today.  
  
"Good Evening Ms. Schwartz," drawled Martin Fraser as he leaned  
  
back against the front edge of his desk. "Or should I say Ms. Po,  
  
Commander of the Preventer Medical division."  
  
A brief hint of panic flashed through Sally's burning blue gaze before  
  
anger returned ten-fold. Instead of spewing forth the fiery rage that  
  
she felt for this slimeball in front of her, Sally managed to merely raise  
  
an eyebrow to convey her disdain for him. Her lips clenched themselves  
  
together to prevent anything more from issuing forth.  
  
"Nothing to say Ms. Po?" asked Mr. Fraser as he moved toward her,  
  
removing his glasses and tucking them into an inner pocket of his suit  
  
coat. "Funny. The records on you from the Alliance and the Preventers  
  
always seem to mention that you have lots to say."  
  
Stubbornly Sally sealed her mouth tighter together while her eyes  
  
continued to blaze with hate and anger.  
  
"Well, don't worry about not having anything to say at the moment,"  
  
continued Mr. Fraser, as a sadistic smile curved his lips upward. "By  
  
the time the boys are done, you will have more than just a little to say.  
  
"You see Ms. Po," he continued, "there is quite a bit of valuable  
  
information that you can provide for us. And I quite intend to have  
  
that information. Not only that, but there is also the matter of you  
  
attempting to infiltrate my place of business. There is no reason why  
  
those snooty Preventers should be concerning themselves with the  
  
generous life saving work that I do here."  
  
Sally's eyes blazed in response. With a tiring struggle, she managed  
  
to control her words and refrain from any type of sharp comeback and  
  
continued to regard him with the contempt the sleezy man deserved.  
  
"Still nothing to say?" he queried, meeting her gaze directly. "That  
  
is too bad. Perhaps some type of physical persuasion, as loath as I  
  
am to ruin such a perfect specimen of womanhood, is the only course  
  
remaining to me. I do not normally like to be so crass, but one must  
  
work with the methods available to them."  
  
With a single gesture from Mr. Fraser, the guard who had led Sally  
  
into the room turned around and smiled evilly at her. His slicked hair  
  
reflected the oily shine of his personality and the deep red color of his  
  
uniform designed to hide the blood, all of which painted a picture of  
  
his deeply sadistic nature. A flash of his hand and a quick movement  
  
of his arm, brought his open hand into stinging contact with her cheek,  
  
leaving a raw mark behind. Quickly the opposite hand came up and  
  
slammed into the solid muscle of her solar plexus, removing the breathe  
  
from her lungs and forcing her knees to go lax and her weight to hang  
  
from the strength of the other men's grips.  
  
Mr. Fraser's cruel smirk grew slightly as he watched Ms. Sally Po  
  
struggle to regain the breathe forced from her lungs. He watched  
  
dispassionately as she gained enough breathe for her to stand on her  
  
own before the red clad guard in front of her kicked out with his foot  
  
in an attempt to dislocate her knee.  
  
Sally saw the move coming and watched the arc of his foot swing  
  
carefully. At just the right moment, she used the hold of the black  
  
uniformed men standing beside her and holding her arms to leverage  
  
her legs off the floor and out of the way of the kick. A small smile  
  
graced her lips at the red uniformed soldier's dumbfounded look, he  
  
had been too sure that she would simply stand still and take all he had  
  
planned for her.  
  
Growling under his breath, Martin Fraser glared at the guard and  
  
snarled out a command. "Don't be an idiot! She's been trained! Hold  
  
her tightly you morons! Persuasion will not be effective without the  
  
victim accepting it!"  
  
The guards, both wearing dull back uniforms that seemed to match their  
  
harsh crew cuts, beside her tightened their grip and used their legs to keep  
  
her feet on the floor in response to the command. As the guard, his  
  
reddened knuckles nearly matching his uniform, in front of her prepared  
  
to do even more substantial bodily harm to her, Sally felt a bit more hope  
  
slipping away from her grasp. There didn't look to be a lot of options left  
  
and yet she knew she had to get herself out of this situation. This time  
  
there was no counting on the men in the white hats riding in on time to  
  
save her this go around.  
  
At that moment, perhaps the fates sensed that Sally was in trouble, for  
  
destiny opened the door of opportunity for her with the entrance of Ty  
  
into the room. The redhead dismissed the tableau before him without  
  
even more than a flickering glance.  
  
"Yo, Mr. Fraser," he called out, "there's something I need you to look at."  
  
"Can't that wait?! I'm in the middle of something," he growled to the  
  
computer geek, his gaze still locked with the fury of Sally's blue eyes.  
  
With a flagrant toss of his long red hair, the man seemed unconcerned  
  
by Fraser's lack of interest. "Fine with me boss man, but I figured you'd  
  
want to know about the two characters that just arrived on L2 and have  
  
spent a considerable amount of time gathering information on you."  
  
Carelessly flinging those words away, Ty turned and sauntered from  
  
the room, heading back to where he had come from. Mr. Fraser growled  
  
in a low tone under his breath. It seemed as though there were others  
  
determined to interfere with his plans for Ms. Po.  
  
"Well Ms. Po," he said in a low tone, "I guess you must have some  
  
friends out there. Which means not only do I need to dispose of you,  
  
but them as well. I'll leave you then in the capable hands of my  
  
compatriots and be back in a moment when you are ready to talk."  
  
He gave her a mock bow and headed out of the room with those parting  
  
words. His strides through the room were stiff and angry and Sally knew  
  
that there would be no remorse for her when he returned.  
  
The mere mention of the fact that there might be people out there  
  
looking for her made her blood sing with excitement. It gave her a new  
  
shot of hope to race along her veins and now she was more determined  
  
than ever to get herself out of this situation and meet up with those who  
  
might be looking for her. And even if the people Ty mentioned weren't  
  
here for her, it was enough to be thankful to them for the distraction.  
  
Giving her a smile so evil it made her nearly physically sick, the red  
  
uniformed guard in front of her leaned in and let his foul breathe wash  
  
over her face. "It's my turn now little girl and I don't forget those who  
  
try and avoid me."  
  
Garnering her strength, Sally accepted the first few blows that the sleazy  
  
black haired man delivered to her defenseless form while her agile mind  
  
began looking for a way out. In a split second she saw what she needed,  
  
the opening that should allow her to break the hold of the uniformed men  
  
beside her, which had gone lax with each consecutive hit, and take down  
  
the foul oaf in front of her.  
  
As his foot moved to connect with her leg in one hell of a solid kick, Sally  
  
used the leverage of the black clad men beside her once more to swing her  
  
legs up and out of the way. She walked her legs up his chest and slammed  
  
her booted feet into his jutting out jaw with a hearty smack, splitting the  
  
red guard's lip against his teeth.  
  
As he staggered back under the suddenness of the blow, hands covering  
  
his mouth in an attempt to wipe away the dripping blood, the other two  
  
black uniformed guards lost their grip on Sally's arms as she continued  
  
to use the swing momentum to move, up and around in a body flip.  
  
The force of her flip freed her from their grasp. Sally then swung her  
  
joined hands into one of the guard's faces, smacking him soundly with the  
  
heavy metal. The man went down in a slump, out cold, his face hidden in  
  
the curve of his black clad arm.  
  
Satisfied that she had one of them down, Sally quickly turned, spinning  
  
on her back leg and whirling the front one in a high arcing kick, catching  
  
the other black uniformed man on his jaw. The force of it threw him to  
  
the floor where he laid in a momentary groggy state, stunned that a mere  
  
woman had taken him down. Another merciless stomp of her booted foot  
  
along his chin made sure that he too was down for the count.  
  
The one guard left wiped his bloody lip on his red sleeve, the split in it  
  
making his smile even more menacing. He advanced toward her warily  
  
as she crouched down and prepared herself for his move. As soon as he  
  
got close enough, once again secure in the fact that he could easily take  
  
her down, he swung out with his balled fist. Sally ducked to avoid the  
  
swing and swept out her foot in a low arc at the same time. She  
  
connected solidly and kicked his feet out from under him. Down on the  
  
floor it only took one more swift move for her to render him unconscious  
  
as well.  
  
Moving even more quickly now, Sally secured the keys for the handcuffs  
  
she wore from his pockets and unlocked herself. She then pocketed the  
  
gun the last guard down had been carrying and quickly fled from the  
  
room, looking for the fastest way out.  
  
Not long after the door to the office swung shut behind her, Mr. Martin  
  
Fraser re-entered his chambers. At the sight of the three men out cold on  
  
the floor and the empty handcuffs, he swore passionately. Cursing  
  
continuously under his breathe, he summoned more guards and set out on  
  
the hunt for his prey.  
  
~~~ An alley near Fraser Headquarters, L2 ~~~  
  
Heero and Duo crouched together outside of the place they knew as the  
  
headquarters for the ring Sally had tried to infiltrate. Together they had  
  
worked until the early hours of the morning laying out a plan for Sally's  
  
rescue and the chance to get the information that they needed to shut the  
  
place down for good. Then after only a few hours of sleep, they were up  
  
and ready to move. They knew that their presence would not have  
  
escaped this guy's notice and they wanted to move before he started hunting  
  
them instead.  
  
"All set?" Duo asked, peering at Heero through the darkness of the shadows  
  
surrounding them. "You have the detonators, right?"  
  
"Hn," nodded Heero, checking through his gear once more to make sure  
  
it was laid out in the order that he needed things. "And the disk and stuff  
  
for gathering the data before you ask."  
  
Duo nodded and then reached out and laid a hand on Heero's shoulder.  
  
"Thanks man for helping me with this."  
  
Heero's deep blue eyes met Duo's sincere amethyst ones and the silent  
  
communication between them flowed.  
  
"It's all right," Heero said quietly. "I know you'd do the same,  
  
actually you have done the same for me, when we went for Relena.  
  
This was the least I could do to help you save the woman that you  
  
love."  
  
Shocked eyes widen as Duo digested Heero's words. He watched the  
  
Japanese man's nimble hands continue to check his gear as the words  
  
he said spun through his mind. He had never thought of Sally as the  
  
woman that he loved, but perhaps..  
  
"Ready?" asked Heero, hiding his amusement at the stunned expression  
  
still gracing Duo's features behind his mask of the perfect soldier.  
  
Dumbly, Duo nodded. He then reached deep inside himself and shut  
  
off the flow of emotions coursing through him. The emotional  
  
overload and realizations were not something that he needed right now.  
  
Most of all he needed a clear head and rational mind, anything else  
  
could be dealt with later.  
  
Silently exchanging a look of readiness, the pair began to put their  
  
plan into motion. Duo was to go and save Sally and Heero to find the  
  
needed information before blowing the place to bits. Creeping into the  
  
building, they headed off to fulfill their plans.  
  
~~~ Preventer Headquarters, Une's Office ~~~  
  
"Anything we need to go over again?" asked Trowa, looking carefully  
  
at Une and Wufei's faces. His own green eyes sparkled slightly with the  
  
excitement of this challenge, anxious to test his own skills once more.  
  
Une shook her head and leaned back in her chair, her own warm brown  
  
eyes focused on the lines of Wufei's graceful features. "It all makes  
  
sense to me and with the best of luck, all will turn out as we wish."  
  
Wufei scowled. "I still don't like the idea of you being involved in this  
  
Une. It's not right."  
  
Une merely glared at Wufei as Trowa hid his laughter, letting it only  
  
shine in his eyes. Une missed his amusement totally and allowed her  
  
scathing opinion of Wufei's words to color her voice as she spoke. "It's  
  
_my_ Preventers that he is after! I'm not going to sit on the sides and let  
  
the two of you play hero when I can damn well do something about it!"  
  
Inhaling slowly, attempting to control his temper, Wufei stood and  
  
moved to lean over Une while she remained seated in her chair. "I do  
  
not want you getting in his way Onna! I will not have you hurt! If things  
  
get to that point, let Trowa take over!"  
  
"I'm not some silly damsel in distress _Preventer_ Chang," snarled Une  
  
in return, her brown eyes flashing with spite and anger, standing to come  
  
face to face with the Chinese man. "I am quite capable of taking care of  
  
myself!"  
  
Dark brown eyes snapped at her as his mouth twisted itself into a grim  
  
line. Balled fist showed his tenseness even further. He leaned further  
  
into her and spoken in a quiet but harsh tone. "Do not get yourself hurt  
  
Onna.. Une.. Or I will never forgive you."  
  
Trowa watched in silence with careful emerald orbs following  
  
the gracefully angry moves of the Chinese man as he left the office,  
  
heading to the spot that he would wait for Carver at. Turning his  
  
contemplative gaze to the brown haired woman standing next to him,  
  
Trowa drawled out his next words. "Quite a passionate lover I assume  
  
Une."  
  
Blushing slightly, Une turned her back on the tall Gundam pilot, one  
  
she had always thought highly of, despite his continued smart remarks  
  
about her love life. "I don't need to answer that," she said heading for  
  
the phone on her desk to put the plan in motion.  
  
Laughing silently, Trowa stood and laid his hand over hers before she  
  
could lift the phone's receiver. "You don't need to, you already did,"  
  
he whispered softly, winking at her so she could see the humor he saw.  
  
"So don't worry, I won't let you _or_ him come to any harm."  
  
On soft feet then, Trowa made his way to the small alcove and settled  
  
himself down in a hiding position as Une picked up the phone to make  
  
the phone call to start the ball rolling. Her eyes flashed her thanks to the  
  
emerald-eyed brunette as she dialed the appropriate extension.  
  
"Carver Fultz please," she said, taking several deep breathes to calm the  
  
quelling within her stomach.  
  
His voice came to her across the phone lines and she smiled slightly,  
  
a cruel smile just like those Colonel Une used to where. "Ahh Carver,  
  
I was wondering if you could come to my office, there are some things  
  
we need to discuss."  
  
~~~ Fraser Headquarters, L2 ~~~  
  
On silent feet honed by years of practice, Heero crept through the  
  
corridors. He used the set of blueprints that they had managed to find  
  
to navigate his way. There was really one room that could possibly be  
  
used to house the mainframe due to the specifications it would need.  
  
Stealthily he made it through the hallways until he found himself in  
  
front of the door leading to the room that he was looking for. The  
  
keypad was a definite give away, besides the fact that everything on  
  
his blue print pointed to this location.  
  
Without a moment's hesitation, he slid a 'skeleton' keycard from his  
  
bag's pocket, while taking out a small processor from another pocket.  
  
He hooked the two together with the ease of long practice and slid the  
  
keycard into the slot. The processor quickly ran through a series of code  
  
breaking programs before finding one that matched and unlocking the  
  
security door.  
  
Putting away the items that he had used, Heero pushed open the door  
  
and slipped inside. With a small smug smile, he congratulated himself  
  
on finding the correct room in one try. He then shook his head to wipe  
  
away the smile and moved across to the main frame terminal on the desk  
  
opposite the door.  
  
Experience with thousands of programs and the hackers that created  
  
them, Heero expertly broke through the levels of security and immersed  
  
himself in the data streaming around him. Establishing a convoluted  
  
connection with his laptop, still on and running a program happily in the  
  
safe room he and Duo had left behind, he began to send to it the  
  
information that the Preventers needed to put Mr. Martin Fraser and his  
  
organization away for a very long time.  
  
Random password checks and twists and turns placed in and among  
  
the information barely made Heero pause in his work. He simply  
  
slipped through them with ease and continued to gather all that he  
  
needed. As his fingers worked their computer magic, his mind idly  
  
contemplated the idea that the person who created this system did not  
  
know what they were doing.  
  
And rooms away, Ty watched the hacker fly through his system with  
  
ease, no matter what roadblocks or stumbles he set in the way. Ty  
  
cursed whoever it was and worked on finding the weak link in the  
  
hacker's connection so he could terminate the work that he was doing.  
  
~~~ Une's Office, Preventer HQ ~~~  
  
Une folded her nervous hands on top of her desk, determined not to  
  
give into her fidgets. Her mind sped through the different ways to  
  
offer Carver the information that they had laid out as bait,  
  
contemplating and rejecting several ideas before settling on one way  
  
that should work quite well.  
  
The moment that she had made a decision, the buzzer sounded and  
  
a voice announced that Preventer Fultz was here to see her. Schooling  
  
her features to rid them of any unintentional notice of dislike or the  
  
hatred that she felt, Une said that he could be let in.  
  
Smoothing back his hair in an almost simpering gesture, Carver let  
  
himself into the bitch's office. He could only see her as the bitch who  
  
had destroyed everything that his idol Treize had attempted to build  
  
during the years of the Alliance. Like a dog in heat, the bitch had  
  
followed their leader everywhere, using the power of her pheromones  
  
to lure him into her clutch. To Carver the mere thought of being in  
  
the same room with her was repulsive, but he had no reason to show  
  
all his cards today until his hand was completely played out. Only  
  
then who he tell her who had ruined her precious 'Preventers' and  
  
claim back the glory of Treize's dreams.  
  
Carver put aside his grandiose plans the moment that he closed the  
  
door to his 'Commander's office'. As much as he wanted all of those  
  
thoughts to come to fruition, he knew that his conversation would go  
  
much better without those thoughts in mind.  
  
"Ahh, Preventer Fultz," said Une in a cool formal tone. "Thank you  
  
for coming so promptly. I have a couple of things I would like to  
  
discuss with you."  
  
Trowa watched as Une skillfully led the conversation along the channels  
  
that they had all agreed upon. His mind tuned out the words about boring  
  
office procedures and routine meetings and clients as he focused his gaze  
  
on the man he considered the enemy. There was nothing overly  
  
intimidating about the man. In truth, he could have blended into the  
  
background of just about any good size company. But as Trowa looked  
  
closely, he could see the touch of madness around the corners of his eyes.  
  
And Trowa had seen enough of the effects of the ZERO system to know  
  
that Carver Fultz was no longer someone he would consider stable. With  
  
a jolt, Trowa again focused his attention on what Une and the creep were  
  
discussing.  
  
"That should be all Preventer Fultz," continued Une, in a smooth tone  
  
of voice signaling the end of their meeting.  
  
The thin haired blonde man across from her rose and made a barely civil  
  
salute to her before turning to leave the office. Behind those thick lenses  
  
eyes flashed and cold-blooded calculation of how he could be rid of her  
  
resumed.  
  
"Oh, there is one more thing," called out Une, waiting till the man turned  
  
around before dropping the oral bombshell that she had waiting for him.  
  
"Have you seen Preventer Maxwell recently?"  
  
Immediately interested inspite of himself, Carver shook his head. "No  
  
Commander Une. I haven't seen him for some time. Is something  
  
wrong?"  
  
Barely able to contain her smirk at his interest, Une shook her head in  
  
response. "I don't believe so, but then one can never be sure when an  
  
ex-Gundam pilot is concerned."  
  
"Ex-Gundam pilot?" Carver's interest was definitely peeked now.  
  
"I hadn't realized that any of the pilots were alive any longer, much  
  
less working for the Preventers."  
  
Une smiled. "Of course they are alive, as far as my intelligence reports  
  
state. Duo was one of the finest, piloting 02 with unbelievable skill  
  
and a cunning and sometimes deadly sense of humor. The fact that  
  
he could fix anything and create any machine you needed out of spare  
  
parts along with his abilities and knowledge from being a pilot made  
  
him an ideal candidate for a position in our organization."  
  
As she watched him carefully digest that information, she dropped the  
  
final words that would spur the man to action far better than anything  
  
else she could have thought of. "Preventer Chang was a Gundam pilot  
  
as well - 05 as a matter of fact."  
  
"Preventer Chang?"  
  
Sagely, Une nodded, turning her chair to gaze out her office window  
  
at the bright sunshine and blue sky. "Yes, a more talented and driven  
  
pilot you couldn't have found during those times. I think it was his deep  
  
sense of justice that drew Treize's interest in the pilots and made him  
  
eager to learn more about them. Perhaps it was that interest, that  
  
fascination with them, that led to his death."  
  
Une shook her head to remove the thought from her mind, turning once  
  
more to watch the man across from her. She noticed the unholy gleam  
  
of interest in his eyes. "But that is pure fancy, my own regret that he did not live to see the peace that they created and helped enforce."  
  
"Was Preventer Chang the one referred to as the Dragon?" asked  
  
Carver's soft voice.  
  
Again Une responded with a nod, allowing Carver to follow his own  
  
twisted and demented path of reasoning.  
  
She watched with apprehension as a look of intense contemplation  
  
crossed his features to be quickly replaced by a small smug smile. Une  
  
closed her eyes then and prayed for the strength to let this go into  
  
Wufei's hands and, more importantly, she hoped Wufei would return to  
  
her in one piece.  
  
"That is certainly some interesting information," murmured Carver.  
  
He then quickly turned on his heel and fled the office at a swift pace.  
  
The moment he left, Trowa slipped from his hiding spot in the shadows.  
  
He quietly laid a hand on Une's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.  
  
On silent feet he too departed, moving to the arranged meeting place  
  
with Wufei.  
  
"I can't believe," muttered Une under her breathe as she watched the  
  
agile man leave her office, "that I am letting this little shit get away  
  
with this! And if those two _men_ believe that I'm just going to sit  
  
here and wait for them to mop it all up, they have another goddamn  
  
thing coming."  
  
Opening the bottom right hand drawer of her desk, Une pulled out an old  
  
Glock 28. The gun had been a gift when she was just learning to shot and  
  
holding it, much less firing the antique, brought her comfort. And damn  
  
it all, if she didn't think it deserved to take down someone determined  
  
to rip apart all she had built and believed in.  
  
Tucking away the weapon discretely, Une left the office, headed for  
  
where Wufei and Trowa awaited Carver.  
  
~~~ Fraser HQ, L2 ~~~  
  
Stealthily a black figure moved out from behind the open stairway  
  
door, peering into the quiet hall. Duo's long chestnut colored braid  
  
swung down off his back as he tilted his head further around to see  
  
the hallway more clearly. Neither hearing nor seeing anything, he  
  
slipped from his hiding place and began to move soundlessly down  
  
the hall.  
  
Absently, his fingers rubbed back and forth along the butt of the solid  
  
weapon he carried in his right hand. The weight of it was comforting  
  
as he continued his search for Sally, which had so far proved fruitless.  
  
He had picked the logical beginning point of the basement and worked  
  
his way up to the more common business areas. A cursory sweep  
  
through the floors below and an exhaustive search of the cells had yet  
  
to reveal Sally's presence. He was nearing the few remaining options,  
  
desperate to find her soon. The mere thought that his inability to find  
  
her meant she was dead and unable to return with him was something  
  
his brain refused to comprehend.  
  
Static filled his hearing briefly before it smoothed out into the calm  
  
tones of Heero's voice.  
  
"Any sign of her yet?" he asked in a hushed tone, though the earpieces  
  
made it impossible for anyone to overhear what was being said.  
  
"Negative," responded Duo in a whisper. "No sign at all - her cell was  
  
wiped clean. I'm just going to.."  
  
Duo trailed off as the sound of pounding feet caught his attention.  
  
"Hang on Heero, there's someone coming," was Duo's harsh whisper  
  
as he opened a door, luckily unlocked, and ducked inside, leaving room  
  
for him to peer out the slightly open crack.  
  
"Well, we need to find her soon," Heero continued, barely acknowledging  
  
Duo's words. "They'll be on to me quick here and we need to blow this  
  
place before that happens."  
  
Duo chuckled softly at Heero's words, his mind distracted for a moment  
  
at the sound of pure lustful pleasure held by Heero's voice when he  
  
talked about destroying things.  
  
The footsteps neared and Duo watched as the form, wearing a dirty black  
  
outfit with tangled disshelved blonde hair streaked with black, flew by  
  
the room he was hiding in. His brain took a moment to register who the  
  
form was though his heart lurched with happiness instinctively.  
  
"Sally!" cried Duo, pushing open the door, heedless of the volume of his  
  
voice. "Thank God!"  
  
Sally was so startled at hearing the rich melodic voice that she nearly  
  
dropped her only weapon. Slowly she stopped and turned back to  
  
where she had heard the voice come from. "Duo?"  
  
Without hesitation, Duo stepped from his hiding place and joined Sally  
  
in the middle of the hall. His body continued to flow with the desire  
  
burning within his heart as he wrapped his arms tightly around her,  
  
nearly squeezing the breathe from her slender body. "Oh Sally," he  
  
whispered, lips rubbing against her hair, inhaling her scent as his hands  
  
tightened their hold. "I thought I'd lost you.."  
  
Bemused at Duo's presence and his words, Sally remained mute,  
  
though her body instinctively sought the warmth and comfort it needed.  
  
Of their own violation, her arms wound across his strong back and she  
  
cuddled her form against his strong masculine one, glad for once to  
  
be female.  
  
"Duo," said Sally as she drew back from the embrace enough to see  
  
his features, "how did you find me?"  
  
"Une told me and I had a couple of favours called in," he said with  
  
a bright smile. "I'm just glad you're alright."  
  
"Of course I'm alright," laughed Sally softly. "Other than needing a  
  
bath and a decent meal and the chance to kill the asshole that locked  
  
me up."  
  
"All shall be provided fair lady," said Duo, stepping back slightly and  
  
giving Sally his best impression of a courtly bow.  
  
"Enough you two," growled Heero in a mock angry voice in Duo's ear.  
  
"Let's get a move on, I've some plastic to explode."  
  
Suddenly completely serious once more, Duo took a hold of Sally's arm  
  
and began to usher her toward the stairs. "We'll have to finish this  
  
discussion later," he murmured in her ear as he held open the door for  
  
her.  
  
"I'll hold you to that," Sally agreed with a smile, unsure of whether  
  
her heart was pounding more because of the adrenalin of the moment or  
  
the promise of the future conversation. She set the thoughts aside  
  
though, concentrating on keeping up with her handsome rescuer.  
  
Together the pair left the hallway, heading toward the point where they  
  
would rendezvous with Heero.  
  
~~~ Practice Hall, Preventer HQ ~~~  
  
Wufei stood quietly in the middle of the practice room, golden skin  
  
gleaming with a sheen of hard earned sweat. He held the sharp katana  
  
in front of him, the grip firm and steady so the sword never wavered for  
  
a moment. Dark sparkling eyes focused on the edge of the blade, his  
  
mind's eye focused on calming his center.  
  
In deliberate fashion, he entered into the next kata he had selected,  
  
grace and agility apparent in his every move. His mind never wavered  
  
from his focus, reaching deep within himself for the strength to continue  
  
despite the ache of his muscles.  
  
Carver crept stealthily into the room, watching the Chinese man as he  
  
continued to move. He wanted to be set in the best position possible  
  
before confronting of the despicable Gundam pilot who had cost Treize  
  
his life. Here was a chance to reek the revenge that General  
  
Krushrenada so deserved.  
  
The fact that this haughty Chinese pilot scum survived while Treize had  
  
perished burned hot within Carver's mind. It ate his heart and soul for  
  
breakfast and wormed its way into his brain, pushing him perilously  
  
close to the edge of sanity. Recklessly, he moved into position, garnering  
  
strength from the cold metal in his pocket, a small feral grin crossing his  
  
features making him resemble the rodent his actions mimicked.  
  
Despite the intensity of his focus, Wufei quietly observed the man  
  
entering the room. His eyes never left him as he continued to move  
  
through the majestic rhythms of the kata, never hesitating. He could  
  
now sense Trowa's soothing presence at his back as the movements  
  
ended and he centered himself once again. Trowa's arrival meant that  
  
Une was now safe and the business of dealing with Mr. Fultz could now  
  
be concluded.  
  
Before Wufei could moved from his final contemplative stance, Carver  
  
abruptly moved to show himself, dragging his concealed weapon from  
  
his pocket. "Preventer Chang, or should I say Gundam pilot 05," he  
  
snarled, the voice echoing with animosity through the open area.  
  
Wufei slowly lowered his sword and raised contemplative eyes to the  
  
mad man confronting him. Making sure to control his movements, Wufei  
  
straightened himself and faced his confronter with a steady gaze and a  
  
cool focused mind. He merely nodded at Carver, barely acknowledging  
  
the man's words.  
  
"I cannot believe that worthless scum such as yourself still wander this  
  
world when a talented man like General Krushendra lies dead,  
  
murdered by your hands," said Carver, his voice dripping with contempt  
  
and ill-concealed anger, but the gun in his grasp never wavered for a  
  
moment. Unerringly it found Wufei's heart and remained focused there.  
  
Wufei merely quirked an eyebrow in inquiry at the mention of Treize's  
  
name. In his mind, the matter had been settled long ago. Recently he  
  
and Une had shared that coming to terms with Treize's death with each  
  
other, each finding the other a great support in dealing with the loss of  
  
such a great man. Drawn together by the pain, they had reached out  
  
for and grasped the happiness they had discovered in each other's  
  
company with some surprise.  
  
"You are scum and I will rid world of you and Une, neither of you are  
  
worth being kept alive," continued the angry man, advancing on Wufei.  
  
"I'll destroy everything she holds dear and bring her weeping before  
  
me so that I can destroy her just as she destroyed the only man worth  
  
admiring."  
  
Inhaling deeply in an effort to keep his temper, Wufei refused to  
  
acknowledge the man's words. Continuing to attempt to maintain  
  
his cool over the man's slanderous words about the woman he loved,  
  
Wufei slowly raised his sword to the en garde position.  
  
"You're pitiful sword doesn't scare me," sneered Carver, pushing it  
  
out of his way, leading with his weapon as he continued his stalking  
  
of the Chinese man.  
  
Wufei held his ground as the man advanced until the butt of the  
  
weapon laid against his forehead. The effort of holding still and  
  
waiting for the man to be in a position he could take him was making  
  
Wufei shake slightly, but he was determined to take out this man  
  
before he carried through on any more of his insane threats.  
  
Just as Carver removed the safety from the weapon, Wufei reached  
  
up and grabbed a hold of the man's arm. Quicker than thought, Wufei  
  
flipped him over his body and laid Carver flat out on the floor. A  
  
further quick twist pinned the arm with the gun behind his back as  
  
Wufei knelt on his lower back.  
  
Carver screamed like an overly frail female, shouting curses and  
  
obscenities and demanding to be let go. His feet pounded against the  
  
floor and he twisted with eagerness in order to be free of Wufei's  
  
tightening grip.  
  
"Nice move," was Trowa's comment as he moved out of the darkening  
  
shadows that had concealed him.  
  
Wufei nodded in acknowledgement, silently refusing the brunette's help  
  
with restraining the man.  
  
"Wufei!" cried Une as she came into the room, running full out, fearing  
  
the worse.  
  
"Une!" shouted Wufei in response. "What are you doing here? I thought  
  
you were instructed to wait until we had confined him?!"  
  
"I.I." stumbled Une, unsure of how to answer in the face of Wufei's  
  
panic that she could still be compromised.  
  
"Didn't think," supplied Wufei in disgust, momentarily loosening his  
  
grasp on Carver in the heat of his anger.  
  
"Carver!" shouted Trowa in warning as he watched the red faced  
  
madman twisted his arm enough to point his weapon at Wufei and  
  
prepared to pull the trigger.  
  
Before Wufei or Trowa could even react, Une lifted her ancient weapon  
  
fired with the unerring aim of a champion marksman.  
  
The bullet from Une's gun slammed into Carver's skull, exploding on  
  
impact, just as his weapon went off. Carver's final shot went slightly  
  
wide of its original mark, spiraling into the flesh of Wufei's shoulder,  
  
The force of the shot pushed Wufei back and he gave a startled gasp of  
  
pain, his other hand coming up instinctively to clutch the bleeding  
  
wound. At his feet Carver collapsed, Une's only shot striking him dead  
  
center in the back of the skull, effectively ending the life of the madman.  
  
With a cry of shock, Une moved quickly to Wufei's side, cradling  
  
him to her body, heedless of the blood that flowed from his wound.  
  
Her hands worked quickly to pull away the fabric from the wound and  
  
stop the flow of blood.  
  
"I told you someone would get hurt woman," muttered Wufei, wrapping  
  
his good arm around her to steady himself.  
  
"But it wasn't supposed to be you!" wailed Une in some distress, her  
  
hands shaking she was so upset.  
  
Trowa quickly dismissed Carver's dead body in favor of helping Wufei  
  
to stand up. He removed Une from her fussing and guided the pair out  
  
of the room and up to the infirmary.  
  
The silence of the room descended then, covering the corpse on the  
  
floor. One could almost sense a breeze of disapproval of the man  
  
laying in a pool of his own blood flow through the room. The word  
  
justice flew in on the breeze, stirring the red liquid spilling across the  
  
floor's surface before disappearing altogether.  
  
~~~ L2 ~~~  
  
"Damn it Heero," whispered Duo under his breathe as he and Sally  
  
burst out of Fraser's headquarters, heading for their meeting place at  
  
a dead run. Behind them, the building began to quickly crumble as the  
  
explosions from Heero's plastique continued to rip through the structure.  
  
"How much fucking plastique did you use?"  
  
Sally laughed breathlessly as she continued to run, urged along by Duo.  
  
"It's Heero, there's never enough."  
  
Duo snorted in agreement, continuing to pull Sally along, unwilling  
  
to even contemplate what could have happened to her if he had been  
  
one minute later in finding her.  
  
Together the pair made it through the streets back to the hotel Heero  
  
and Duo had stayed at earlier. They gave Sally time for a quick  
  
shower and change of clothing before bundling her off to the shuttle.  
  
Once they had lifted off from L2, they sent word to Une and Wufei  
  
that Sally was safe.  
  
Duo sat down at the side of the elegant woman he had just risked  
  
everything to rescue. She had fallen asleep the moment the email had  
  
been sent to Une, laying in a graceful heap on the shuttle's tiny couch.  
  
Her hair had regained some of its beautiful golden color once more  
  
with her quick shower. A single curl draped across her cheek and Duo  
  
stroked his fingers down its silky softness, making sure not to wake her.  
  
Amethyst roved over her features, memorizing every detail and etching  
  
it into his heart, ripe with love.  
  
Heero's blue gaze watched Duo's with fond amusement, understanding  
  
his best friend's desperate need to be with the woman he was falling in  
  
love with.  
  
Now there was only the matter of bringing them closer together..  
  
Heero continued to speculate on plans for the couple as he guided them  
  
home.  
  
Safe at last.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
C&C always appreciated! Thanks to all the awesome readers who have  
  
stuck it out this far! You make my day!  
  
^_^  
  
Rhina 


End file.
